Global News Of Note: EU Initiates Review Of Steel Safeguard Measures

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• On Dec. 17 and following a request by 13 European Union (EU) member states, the European Commission initiated a review of EU safeguard measures on steel. The commission said, “The request is based on the challenging situation facing the EU steel sector, which has been exacerbated by an increase of global overcapacity, together with a continued decrease in EU demand for steel.” The objective, the commission said, “is to provide temporary relief to domestic industry, helping it to adapt to new market conditions and regain competitiveness.” The review will last until March 31, 2025 with any decision from it taking effect April 1, 2025. Read more at this link.
• Exports of unwrought aluminum and products from China expanded by 37 percent to 668,940 tons in November. As Bloomberg reported, that volume has only been surpassed once before, in May 2022, when the global aluminum market faced deep disruption in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The surge came a month after the Chinese government announced that, effective Dec. 1, 2024, it would remove export rebates for a range of goods, including copper and some oil products.
• According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s crude steel output fell 4.3 percent between October and November 2024, but was up 2.5 percent between November 2023 and November 2024. The monthly decline was mostly due to “tighter margins and seasonally weakening downstream steel consumption,” Reuters said. Meanwhile, the GMK Center reported steel exports from the country this year are likely to surpass the 2015 record of 110 million tons. Read more at this link.