Europe has to learn from USA on trade cases, Eurofer president says

The European Competition Commission has to learn from the USA on speed and transparency in trade cases, according to the new president of Eurofer, Robrecht Himpe.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

Speaking at the European Steel Day in Brussels on Thursday May 15, the new president of the European steel association, who also executive vice president of ArcelorMittal Europe, called for a quicker and more efficient response to trade concerns.

“For someone with the intention to dump into the USA, it is much more difficult,” he said. “The speed of a case is much higher – they are able to act [quickly]; people know after a month-and-a-half when there is a serious case,” he said.

“In Europe, reactivity is a multiple lower than in the USA, so there is room for improvement. In Europe, time is always against us,” he added.

US steel prices have been strengthening recently, while European steel prices are still at a low level.

Steel First’s price assessment of domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) in Northern Europe stands at €440-450 ($603-617) per tonne ex-works, compared with domestic HRC prices in the USA of $690 per short ton.

What to read next
The publication of Fastmarkets’ European steel beams and sections assessments for Wednesday April 15 was delayed due to a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Fastmarkets has launched a suite broker/processor and ex-works prices to service the domestic and export Mexican stainless steel scrap markets respectively.
Fastmarkets has decided to make changes and clarifications to its methodologies for nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) black mass price assessments, including name changes, to bring them into closer alignment with current spot market specifications.
An interview in which Andrea Hotter spoke with Jon Stibbs, managing editor for technology and energy metals, to explore a growing concern for global defense supply chains.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Saudi Arabia price, as part of its annual methodology review process.
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-STE-0816 Japan seamless Linepipe API 5L B fob and its MB-STE-0817 Japan seamless Linepipe API 5L X65 fob assessments, which were published incorrectly on Wednesday April 8 due to a procedural error.