European hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports in September more than doubled on the year to 545,500t, supported by Ukrainian and Indonesian supply.
But HRC imports in September fell on the month by 31pc as more importers exhausted their EU safeguard quotas later into the quarter. Because of the EU safeguard quotas, many traditional suppliers are mostly only present in the first month of the quarterly quota. This turned buyers toward Ukrainian material along with Indonesian supply, which is exempt from duties and was favoured by EU buyers.
Cold-rolled coil (CRC) imports fell because of quota limitations by 32.5pc on the year and 12pc on the month to 123,800t in September, with strong Indian supply at 47,000t. Hot-dip galvanised imports were flat on the month but grew compared with last year by 57pc to 221,700t. South Korea remained the largest supplier, but volumes fell by 35pc on the month to 54,700t in September, with levels from Turkey dropping as low as 10,000t, down from 38,000t in the previous month because of quota restrictions. This turned buyers toward Indian supply, which tripled on the month to 33,000t in September.
On the exports side, the UK remained the main export market for HRC with 89,000t, as sales to the US slumped by 41pc on the year to slightly under 20,000t. HRC exports from the UK totalled 200,000t in September, a 7pc increase on the year and a 3pc increase on the month. HDG exports grew as well, supported by strong supply from Turkey, the UK and Mexico.
On the longs side, rebar showed similar imports totalling 58,000t in September, with strong supply from Ukraine and Norway similar to last month, but wire rod imports grew by 91pc on the month and 192pc on the year to 292,000t, owing to a 110,000t customs clearance from Indonesia, followed by strong imports from Ukraine and the UK. Rebar exports fell in September by 21pc on the year but almost doubled compared with August at 50,500t as UK buyers restocked.
| EU steel imports | t | ||
| Sep-25 | ±% Sep-24 | ±% Aug-25 | |
| HRC | 545,455 | 100.4% | -30.6% |
| CRC | 123,800 | -32.5% | -12.3% |
| HDG | 221,665 | 57.2% | 0.3% |
| Plate | 106,461 | -43.7% | -37.3% |
| Rebar | 58,230 | 27.5% | 0.2% |
| Wire rod | 291,725 | 191.8% | 90.7% |
| Slab | 156,950 | -62.3% | -64.3% |
| Billet | 97,758 | 12.9% | -8.1% |
| — GTT |
| EU steel exports | t | ||
| Sep-25 | ±% Sep-24 | ±% Aug-25 | |
| HRC | 200,035 | 7.1% | 2.7% |
| CRC | 78,501 | -10.9% | 6.4% |
| HDG | 240,842 | 6.3% | 7.8% |
| Plate | 98,287 | -4.8% | -0.7% |
| Rebar | 50,573 | -21.3% | 96.7% |
| Wire rod | 64,523 | -40.1% | 2.7% |
| Slab | 4,852 | -84.4% | -79.8% |
| Billet | 38,098 | -4.9% | 139.0% |
| — GTT |
