Eco-friendly steel industry warns of duplication of EU CBAM safety measures
Stakeholders in the green steel industry have asked the European Commission to exempt low-carbon steel products from any future steel protection measures in order not to undermine the Carbon Emissions Regulation Mechanism (CBAM), according to feedback provided to the commission.
August 18 was the last day when market participants could submit their proposals and comments to the commission on the implementation of a trade measure that would solve the problem of global excess steelmaking capacity. Within one month, 143 enterprises and interested parties provided their materials to the authorities.
"Instead of quotas or tariffs, carbon prices under CBAM should be applied to imports of environmentally friendly steel," Singapore-based Meranti Green Steel said. "With regard to duties that go beyond quotas, we recommend zeroing tariffs on verifiable low-carbon steel and on sizes for which supplies to the EU are insufficient," the Interfer trading firm said.
Meranti estimates that once CBAM is fully operational, there will be a shortage of up to 50 million tons of green steel in the EU by 2035, while Interfer said that imposing penalties on low-carbon steel imports would directly contradict the EU Green Agreement and CBAM's goals.
Swedish manufacturer SSAB also pointed out that duplicating any new potential precautions and CBAM could double the burden on end users.
CBAM implementation is still scheduled for January 1, 2026, despite market talk of a possible delay. The participants are currently awaiting the publication of the CBAM guidelines in the fall.
European producers of environmentally friendly steel have not reached any specific consensus on the issue of exempting low-carbon steel from trade restrictions. Most likely, their requests are related to the introduction of a new, stricter tariff quota system (TRQ), which will be introduced in the first quarter of 2026.
Suppliers that are developing environmentally friendly steel production in the EU, such as SSAB, Celsa and Hydnum Steel, have expressed their support for the global tariff quota system. TRQ, with a limit value for each exporting country and tariffs set at 50%. Celsa and Hydnum Steel also proposed a melting and pouring point in accordance with the terms of reference.
By Carlo Da Cas
Source: argusmedia.com