According to European Commission data obtained by Platts, global applications filed in February to import steel products into the EU 27 slipped by 7% MoM as compared with January 2009 at 1.70 million tonnes, with China's filings decreasing by 12% MoM to 216,000 tonnes.
Bucking the overall trend, hot rolled coil applications gained 27% MoM in February as compared with January and 4% YoY at 365,000 tonnes. Of note was a 172% surge in HRC applications from Russia. The country filed to export 119,000 tonnes into the EU 27, over twice as much as the next applicant India, on 53,000 tonnes. Turkey applied for 44,000 tonnes of HRC, while Chinese applications covered 43,000 tonnes.
Cold rolled coil applications were up by 3% MoM in February but down by 22% YoY at 156,000 tonnes. Again Russian applications jumped, at 60,000 tonnes, 260% MoM more than in January. Turkey applied for 26% more CRC exports to Europe at 33,000 tonnes, while Chinese applications fell 41% to 22,000 tonnes. A spike in Ukrainian applications recorded in January subsided in February when applications fell back to 8,000 tonnes from 45,000 tonnes the previous month.
Quarto plate applications were almost flat, increasing just 1% MoM at 117,000 tonnes. China remained the largest applicant, with 46,000 tonnes covered, but filings were down by 20% MoM. Russia applied to sell 25,000 tonnes of plate into the EU 27, down by 33% MoM from January figures. A noteworthy trend is the return of Brazil as source of European imports as the country filed for 21,000 tonnes, placing it third.
Turkish rebar import applications normalized in February after a spike in January. They fell 52% MoM to 50,000 tonnes, a level seen as normal when compared with 2008 data. In January, Turkey had applied for 104,000 tonnes of sales to Europe. Despite the drop in Turkish filings, total rebar applications worldwide increased by 6% MoM to 157,000 tonnes, helped by a 43% jump in Norwegian applications, which reached 43,000 tonnes.
Source : steelguru.com