Policy Radar: EU Wants to Know Where Your Steel Was Melted
Policy Radar: EU Wants to Know Where Your Steel Was Melted
Executive Summary
From Oct 1, EU steel imports need the country of melt and pour plus a heat number. China's duty-free quota fell from 2.4 million to 0.8 million tonnes.
| 47% |
| 25% |
| 50% |
| August 20 |
Overview
Here's the thing. Under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963, adopted by the European Commission on 31 August 2026 and applicable from Oct 1, every steel product covered by the Steel Regulation has to be declared with its country of melt and pour. Put simply, Brussels wants to know where the steel was melted and first cast into solid form — not where it was rolled, not which port it sailed from. Your importer writes that into the customs declaration, and you are the one who has to prove it.
That is not origin.
Origin is a separate box on a separate form, and if you ship coil or plate to Europe, the two answers will not always agree.
Key Details
The primary evidence is the Mill Test Certificate, or MTC, and the certificate you send has to carry two lines: the country of melt and pour, and the heat number. If both are there, customs asks for nothing else. If the MTC is missing either one, customs may accept invoices, delivery notes, quality certificates, purchase order clauses, long-term supplier declarations, cost and production records, export-country customs documents, commercial correspondence or production descriptions as supporting evidence.
Watch out for this one.
Until Sep 30, 2027 those documents can stand alone when no MTC exists at all. From Oct 1, 2027 they only supplement it. Frankly, that second date is the one most exporters are missing.
No verifiable evidence means one thing: refusal.
Looking Ahead
Bottom line, the paperwork is the easy part. The EU's total duty-free quota is down about 47% against 2024, to 18.346 million tonnes. China has no free trade agreement, so its country quota dropped from 2.4 million tonnes to 0.8 million tonnes — roughly two thirds gone in one step. For 1A hot rolled coil, the non-FTA pool is about 22,000 tonnes, which is close to a closed door. Out-of-quota duty doubled from 25% to 50%, and it stacks on top of the anti-dumping duty already in place. The coil you ship after the quota is used up pays the difference.
This is not a freight problem.
It is a does-this-cargo-ship-at-all problem.
Implications
First, pull your remaining EU orders for the year and sort them by estimated arrival date, then see which ones land after the quota is spent. Second, go back to the mill and get the MTC completed: country of melt and pour plus heat number, both lines, no substitutes. Third, reconcile the MTC against your export documents. If the three do not line up, EU customs will not accept it either.
The rub is that the MTC is not yours to issue. It sits with the mill, so the only move you have today is to pick up the phone.
Do not wait.
Market Outlook
Two dates to watch. By Jun 30, 2027 the Commission will assess whether melt and pour should be tied to quota eligibility. If it is, the 0.8 million tonne country quota gets cut again. And after Sep 30, 2027 substitute documents stop working on their own, so any mill that has not reworked its paperwork by then will be stuck.JETWAY Supply Chain is your execution partner on the ground in China — based in Tianjin, licensed as an NVOCC (MOT) and a member of CIFA, FIATA and WCA. We handle special cargo and compliance (dangerous goods, chemicals, batteries) across ocean, air, rail and road, and we pre-check your documents before the box is stuffed so your filing clears the first time. Send us your next booking and we will run the checks above against your sailing date. Request a quote.