Following the European Commission imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of silicon-electrical steel from China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) has issued a statement embracing the measures.

 

‘‘EUROFER welcomes the extension for another five years of EU anti-dumping measures on imports of grain-oriented flat-rolled products of silicon-electrical steel (‘GOES’).This important step will help EU GOES producers keep contributing to Europe’s energy efficiency and climate targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,’’ EUROFER announced in its statement.

 

GOES is a highly specialised steel product manufactured by only around 20 mills in the entire world, out of which four are located in the European Union. GOES is a vital component in the production of transformer cores and is therefore crucial for the maintenance and expansion of the EU electrical grid. GOES is also vital for the further development of the e-mobility sector.

 

The European GOES producers have been facing substantial injury by dumped imports from Asian, Russian and American mills for many years.

 

While GOES has never been covered by the EU steel safeguard measures since their introduction in 2015, anti-dumping duties in the form of Minim Import Prices (MIPs) have instilled a degree of stability and confidence into the market that has enabled European producers to accelerate research and development, and to produce the top grades with the required maximum guaranteed low core loss needed to meet EU standards under the EcoDesign regulation.

 

“The EU energy security and climate objectives can only be met by maintaining a viable European GOES industry”, said Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER. “GOES is a strategic, high-end product, and the European Union cannot be dependent for its supply on foreign mills located in Asia, Russia or the United States”, Eggert added.

Source: STS