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As anticipated, the eighth wave of sanctions on Russia imposed by the European Commission has expanded the EU ban on Russian steel to include semi-finished products. However, until 2024, temporary exemptions have been allowed, allowing slab imports up to a quota exceeding 3.7 million tonnes per year.
The eight-sanction package was passed on yesterday, but the contents were made available to the public on today.
The new restrictions also stipulate that as of September 30, 2023, steel goods manufactured in third countries with Russian-origin steel would not be permitted in Europe. This increases limitations on third-country steel processors that desire to supply the EU and utilize competitive Russian feedstock.
As predicted, provisional exemptions for some grades of billets and slabs were given. The official Commission statement specifies that a quota of 3.748mtons will be allocated for slab (HS Code: 72071210) between October 2022 and September 2023, and again between October 2023 and September 2024.
In addition to slab, Russian billet has been allocated a quota, although a much lower one. Imports of up to 487,202mtons of billets from Russia will be permitted between October 2022 and September 2023, before dropping to 85,260t in October-December 2023 and 48,720t in January-March 2024.