On July 24, Spanish stainless steel manufacturer Acerinox announced that the new trade measures, effective July 1, are "game-changing" in the European steel market, and the company predicts an increase in the profitability of its operations in the domestic market.
"These measures are fundamental to reducing the surplus of products exported from countries with excess production capacity and restoring the competitiveness of European industry," said CEO Bernardo Velzakesz.
Combined with the Carbon dioxide Emissions Control Mechanism (CBAM), which was introduced in January, EU imports led to local producers having to fill the supply gap, and against this background, the Acerinox Europa plant with a capacity of 1 million metric tons per year in Spain was launched. According to him, the company expects to receive positive EBITDA in the third quarter.
As a result of CBAM, the share of imports in the market decreased from 24% to 16%, and taking into account the new measures, it may decrease to 12% or 13%, Velzakes told analysts during a telephone conversation.
According to him, the overall result was a 31% reduction in imports to Europe in the first half of the year. This led to "customers looking for local suppliers," and the Spanish division of Acerinox reported positive EBITDA in June and forecasts a positive performance in the third quarter after a difficult first half of the year, when the plant had to recover from a fire in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The damaged hot etching line of materials was restored to full capacity by April, which increased productivity by 20%, the company said, without providing data on production volume.
However, demand in Europe remains low "due to geopolitical uncertainty," the company said in a statement.
The market "expects investment projects," especially in the oil and gas sector, Acerinox said in a statement. According to management, the Spanish unit will be shut down for two weeks in August due to the usual summer shutdown.
production growth
Global steel production at the company's smelters totaled 540,000 tons in the second quarter, up 10% from the previous quarter, driven by the relaunch of the Acerinox Europa line.
The volume of cold rolling production amounted to 318,000 tons, which is 1% less than in the same period last year, and long products - 42 million tons, which is 6% more than in the same period last year.
According to the company, Acerinox operates steel mills in Spain, Germany, the United States and South Africa, and the smelter has a capacity of about 3.5 million tons per year.
In the United States, according to the company, there is demand from the aerospace sector.
