According to media sources, the European Commission has sent a notification to the World Trade Organization, stating that the EU will impose import quotas on certain steel products, including rebar and wire rod, for a period of 150 days starting from February 2, 2019.. However, there has been no official announcement yet.

Accordingly the import quotas will be in force between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 and that the quota volumes will be increased by five percent for the period between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Additionally, the quotas will not be imposed globally but will vary depending on the country for each product. The said quota allocations are as follows:

Reinforcing bars:

CN Codes : 7214 20 00, 7214 99 10

Country                               2.2.1019 – 30.6.2019              1.7.2019 – 30.6.2020            1.7.2020 – 30.6.2021

Turkey                                   117,231.80 tons                       301,537.50 tons                         316,634.37 tons
Russia                                     94,084.20 tons                      241,998.46 tons                        254,098.38 tons
Ukraine                                   62,534.65 tons                       160,848.36 tons                       168,890.77 tons
Bosnia & Herzegovina          39,356.10 tons                      101,229.71 tons                         106,291.20 tons
Moldova                                   28,284.59 tons                      72,752.14 tons                            76,389.74 tons
Other countries                     217,775.50 tons                     560,150.74 tons                        588,158.28 tons

Wire rods

CN Codes: 7213 10 00, 7213 20 00, 7213 91 10, 7213 91 20, 7213 91 41, 7213 91 49, 7213 91 70, 7213 91 90, 7213 99 10, 7213 99 90, 7227 10 00, 7227 20 00, 7227 90 10, 7227 90 50, 7227 90 95

Country                               2.2.1019 – 30.6.2019              1.7.2019 - 30.6.2020            1.7.2020 - 30.6.2021

Ukraine                                 149,009.10 tons                      383.273,39 tons                        402.437,06 tons
Switzerland                           141.995,22 tons                      365.232,67 tons                        383.494,31 tons
Russia                                    122.883,63 tons                      316.074,84 tons                        331.878,59 tons
Turkey                                    121.331,08 tons                      312.081,44 tons                         327.685,51 tons
Belarus                                     97.436,46 tons                     250.620,96 tons                        263.152,01 tons
Moldova                                   73.031,65 tons                     187.848,18 tons                         197.240,59 tons
Other countries                    122.013,20 tons                     313.835,96 tons                         329.527,76 tons

The European Commission had extended the safeguard duty investigation for a maximum of two months and said that the final decision will be announced on February 1.