On Friday 15 May, the European Commission announced the development of a new surveillance system for steel and aluminium imports to speed up its analysis of import trends.
The new system is based on import statistics available 2 weeks after actual imports, therefore much earlier than official Eurostat data. The Commission services consider that this mechanism, which is fully transparent, "will better meet the needs of the industrial sectors concerned". Indeed, it offers a better assessment of the import situation compared to the so-called "prior surveillance" system used until then, which was not based on actual imports but on import projections.
The institution undertakes to publish this updated information on its website every month.
Industry in trouble
According to the latest statistics on the state of the steel industry, published on 12 May by Eurofer, the organisation representing the metallurgical industry at European level, the lockdown measures applied by governments since March 2020 have seriously affected manufacturing activity and industrial sectors using steel. Activity in the sector had already slowed considerably in 2019.
To consult the Commission website: https://bit.ly/3dXhGqk (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)