The European Council has agreed to adopt the EU’s fourth round of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The EU will thus ban imports from Russia of those steel products currently under safeguard measures.

The EU initially announced the proposal last Friday (see Kallanish passim).

The ban is expected to impact some €3.3 billion ($3.63 billion) of steel exports from Russia.

The safeguard measures mostly cover finished long, flat and tubular steel products. Billet and slab are not included in the group and their trade with Europe will therefore continue to be accepted, provided it is not done with companies impacted by direct sanctions from the EU.

Those import quotas assigned to Russian material will be re-distributed among other third countries to compensate for the reduction in supply.

At the end of 2021, the European Commission confirmed a new review of the existing safeguard measures. A decision on the review is expected to be issued by end-June.