According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2014-2015/Q1 2014 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in 2013 European Union (EU) steel imports are estimated to decline by 9.5 percent year on year. During the first 11 months of the given year, finished steel product imports registered a 12 percent year-on-year growth.
Recent finished product import data confirm the continuation of the year-on-year rise in long product imports in October and November, while flat product imports in these two months increased in general compared with the same period of 2012.
With regard to the main countries of origin, during 2013, Ukraine and Russia continued to dominate the EU's semi-finished product imports, whereas China, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and South Korea accounted for about 70 percent of finished product imports.
According to EUROFER, for 2014 it is expected that the European Union's imports from third countries will remain relatively close to the levels registered in 2013, rising by two percent. The expected further recovery of the EU steel market will trigger a stronger rise in imports in 2015.