European Commission to review Severstal HRC duty

The European Commission is reviewing the existing anti-dumping duty (ADD) on hot-rolled coil (HRC) shipments from Russian steel producer Severstal after being petitioned by European steel association Eurofer.

Argus previously reported in May 2020 that Eurofer was pressing for the review. The investigation period will cover 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Russia during January-October shipped 1.38mn t of HRC into the EU, up slightly from 1.37mn t the previous year. While there was no significant change in volume, Russian import prices were exceptionally competitive for certain periods last year, with some offers around €70/t or further below domestic quotations.

The vast majority of this material, if not all, came from Severstal, as it has by far the lowest existing ADDs of all Russian producers. Severstal has a fixed €17.60/t duty, while its Russian counterparts carry duties as high as €96.50/t.

Eurofer in petitioning the EU "provided evidence" that Severstal took the "strategic decision to change its operating business model and increase its export volumes to the EU", as well as its higher prices in the domestic Russian market than for exports. It also provided evidence that Severstal's dumping margin was "significantly higher" than the margin of 5.3pc established in the original investigation.

Traders have said, in the event of Severstal's duty being reviewed, they will push for similar reviews on other Russian producers with significantly higher duties.

By Colin Richardson