JUST APPLY IT: Ukraine needs to be exempt from steel quotas in the EU’s new steel trade measure, CEO Luca Zanotti of producing company Interpipe told Koen in an interview. “We’re not looking for just diplomacy,” he said over a video connection from his native Italy.
‘Tis written: Zanotti highlighted that the EU three main institutions agreed that Ukraine is a special case, entitled to trade benefits since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. “There is specific language on Ukraine facing ‘an exceptional and immediate security situation’ and that results in a special status,” he said.
Walls going up: The EU will double steel tariffs on July 1 to 50 percent. At the same time, the quota that allows certain quantities in without getting taxed will be reduced by almost half. Ukraine is highly dependent on the EU as an export market.
Power it up: Interpipe makes steel pipes that find their way in the oil and gas industries, mining equipment, construction and cranes. It also produces wheels for rolling stock and smaller steel items. Already in 2012, Interpipe started using an electric arc furnace, making its emissions much lower than coal or gas-fired steel makers. Steel scrap is the main ingredient for electric furnaces. The main production hub is in Nikopol, across the Dniepr river from the Russia-occupied nuclear powerplant at Enerhodar.
Worries boiling: “Within Europe, there are forces that have a strong political view to twist the spirit and the wording” of laws concerning Ukraine, Zanotti said. If the EU were to impose quotas on Ukraine — where production is down 80 percent relative to pre-2022 figures — he said it would be “a very difficult setback.”
Koen Verhelst | Trade Reporter | POLITICO