[ferro-alloys.com]Turkish wire rod exports into the European Union have already exceeded the quota limit recently set by the European Commission by 4.8%, even before the end of the so called "blocking period," S&P Global Platts learned from data obtained by European wire rod association Eunirpa.

According to Eunirpa's data, from 11 February to 13 February 127,230 mt of rod were imported into the EU from Turkey, exceeding the EC quotas by 6,039 mt.

The European Commission put in place safeguards on rod and other steel products on February 2, with an initial "block" period of 11 days. The import data has not yet been officially published on the EC website.

From February 2 to June 30, 2019, the allowed quota for rod products imported from Turkey is 121,331 mt. "This means that some importers, and we don't yet know who specifically, will pay the extra 25% on the 6,039 mt," explained Eunirpa president Kris Van Ginderdeuren.

Rebar imports from Turkey have not yet filled their quota but they are getting close with imported rebars having reached 115,463 mt according to Eunirpa's data up to February 13.

From February 2 to June 30, 2019 the allowed quota for rebar imports from Turkey is 117,231 mt.

"Rebars and wire rod prices moved up in Europe and in Turkey and the fact that the quotas have already been fullfilled for rod and partially for rebars will have an impact on the prices too," one source commented.

"Rebars and rod went up but they went up as raw materials went (up); this is the reason why we asked for price increases. If someone wants to import without paying the extra 25% they can still use other sources of imports from other countries that are not Turkey," a source from a European mill commented.

According to S&P Global Platts, monthly wire rod Turkish prices went up by $42.50/mt from January 10 to February 10 to $473/mt FOB Turkish ports while in the same period rebars went up by $28.5/mt to $473/mt FOB.

In Europe, domestic long products producers recently announced price increases of around Eur15/mt following the raw materials upward prices movement which, according to S&P Global Platts, took the weekly rebar price to Eur525/mt delivered into Ruhr area. One rod buyer said Wednesday it had already paid "a plus of Eur30/mt to Eur540/mt effective del so more than I thought."

The quotas brought into force by the EC on February 2 are definitive measures. Provisional safeguard measures had been in place since July 2018. The new measures will remain in place until July 2021. This procedure has resulted in the introduction of import tariffs of 25% above the respective Tariff Rate Quotas for the products concerned. The measures were intended to shield European steel producers following the diversion of steel trade flows into the EU market from other parts of the world as a result of the US's unilateral measures restricting imports of steel to the American market.

Platts called the EC Thursday for further comments on the data obtained but obtained no reply. Market sources expect to see the imports data on the EC website on Monday when the "block period" will terminate.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]