Long steel demand in European Union markets is likely to remain relatively weak through June amid relatively high stock levels at distributors and uncertainty around Europe's import safeguard investigation, market sources told Metal Bulletin.
The European Commission (EC) is expected to impose preliminary safeguard measures on steel imports in early July and, following World Trade Organization rules, it should be able to impose final safeguard measures by early next year, according to European steel association Eurofer.Eurofer on June 7 called for the EC to impose a steel import safeguard quota, with a 25% tariff applied to all steel import volumes that exceed the quota.Northern European domestic rebar consumption is expected to rise amid improved weather in June, but with summer holidays approaching in July, the impact on prices could be limited, market sources said."The situation regarding...