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Few European Steel TRQs Filling Quickly

February 17, 2022 by Mara Lee|Top News

The Coalition for Metal Manufacturers and Users is arguing that tariff rate quotas on raw materials "lead to market manipulations and allow for gaming of the system that puts this country’s smallest manufacturers at an even further disadvantage," and said "some steel products’ quota filled up for the year in the first two weeks of January."

"U.S. steel- and aluminum-using manufacturers can neither secure the raw materials that they need nor obtain them at competitive prices, and are losing business to competitors in other countries who are paying far lower prices for steel and aluminum," CAMMU argued.

The quotas are distributed quarterly, so a quota could not be filled up for the year yet, and no product is filled for the quarter from all countries. Each product's quota is divided among all the European countries that have traditionally had exports in it, so there are more than two dozen sub-quotas per product.

The statistics show that few of the quotas are even half-filled for the quarter for any given country, even though Feb. 14 was halfway through the period. Eight of the more than 50 categories had no imports at all under the TRQs, though there could have been imports under exclusions.

Even more categories had just one country importing under the TRQ, and in quantities that only used up around 10 percent of the quota for the quarter; in one case, just one kilogram was entered under the TRQ.

Even in the categories where several countries' quotas are either filled or nearly so, few countries have not yet reached the halfway mark towards the quota.

The most-used quotas were those for oil country pipe and tube goods: Italy's 4,000 metric tons were filled by Jan. 28; France's 1,439 metric tons were filled by Jan. 27; Germany's 8,881 metric tons are 48% filled; and Spain's 8,061 metric ton quota went from 56% filled Feb. 7 to 92% filled by Feb. 14. The Czech quota is also half full.

Other popular categories were cold-finished bars, not stainless steel: Italy's 3,292 metric tons were filled by Jan. 13; Spain's 2,580 metric tons were filled by Feb. 7; and the Czech quota is 95% full.

Plate in cut lengths: Spain's 3.75 metric ton and Slovenia's 81.5 metric ton quotas were both full by late January; Bulgaria's 419.25 metric ton quota is 99.9% filled.

In structural pipe and tube: the Dutch quota of 12.5 metric tons was filled by Jan. 20; the 750 kg quota for Poland was filled by Jan. 27; and the 1.25 metric ton quota for Belgium is 97% filled.

In standard pipe: Spain's 1,481.5 metric ton quota was filled by Jan. 13; Belgium's 750 kg was filled Jan. 20. In other line pipe: Germany's 3,292 metric ton quota is 99.9% filled; and Italy's 196 metric ton quota filled on Jan. 28.

The quotas are divided into line pipe exceeding 406.4 mm and not exceeding that measurement. In the larger dimension, Belgium's 500 kg filled Jan. 20; in the smaller dimension, Romania's 1,356 metric tons filled Jan. 4, Spain's quota is 76.6% filled, which was a jump from a third filled to three quarters in one week; and Slovakia's is 56% filled.

Hot-dipped, flat rolled products from France: the 2,250 metric ton quota filled Jan. 10; and the 255.5 metric ton quota from Portugal filled Feb. 10.

Flat-rolled products of stainless steel: Sweden's 287 metric ton quota filled Feb. 8; Slovenia's 148 metric ton quota is 92% full; and Belgium's 2,920 metric ton quota is 64% full. In hot-rolled bars and rods of stainless steel: Poland filled its 4.25 metric ton quota on Jan. 18; and Slovenia filled its 42 metric ton quota the same day.

Eight other products had just one country with at least a half-filled quota -- tin plate; cold-rolled sheet of stainless steel; wire of stainless steel, drawn; pipes and tubes of stainless steel; cold-finished bars and rods, not of stainless steel; sheet piling; blooms, billets and slabs, semi-finished; and angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel.