European importers of hot rolled coil are continuing to use allocated safeguard quotas at a relatively fast pace in the third quarter, Kallanish notes.

According to the latest data put together by MCI for Eurometal, some 40% of the overall quotas allocated for HRC imports this quarter have already been used.

In detail, two thirds of quotas for the import of HRC under the “other countries” sub-category have been exhausted. Similarly, three quarters of the quota specifically assigned to South Korea have been used.

Overall, almost 900,000 tonnes of HRC have been imported into the EU since the beginning of July; in the entire second quarter, almost 2.3 million tonnes of HRC were imported.

Despite the latest recovery, final data for the January-May 2023 period confirm that overall imports of HRC into Europe fell in comparison with 2022. During the first five months of this year, some 8mt of HRC were imported into the EU, down 25% year-on-year. Italy was the biggest importer with 2.6mt, followed by Spain and Belgium with 1.3mt each.