Acerinox has halved stainless imports into Europe but still cannot sell more there; it expects the turn in early 2027

Acerinox has cut stainless flat imports into Europe in half, but it still cannot sell more steel there. In its third-quarter results on 30 October, the Spanish stainless group said imports of flat products fell 50% in the quarter. Even so, European demand dropped 22% from the second quarter, and stock is still above normal levels. Acerinox now expects the effect of the EU’s new trade measures and CBAM to show in early 2027. If you buy stainless coil or sheet in Europe, use the stock overhang while it lasts: get EU mill offers for the first quarter of 2027 now, and check how much of your volume still depends on imports that pay 50% duty once quota runs out.

What Acerinox reported

Third-quarter EBITDA was €199 million, up 13% from the second quarter and up from €108 million a year earlier, on revenue of €1.59 billion, according to the company’s results report and press release. Profit after tax and minority interests was €85 million, against €25 million in the third quarter of 2025. Stainless steel made €175 million of the EBITDA, compared with €76 million a year earlier. The high-performance alloys division made €24 million, down from €32 million. Acerinox said higher energy and transport costs from the conflict in the Middle East reduced EBITDA by about €16 million in the quarter.

Steel output was 501,000 tonnes, 7% less than in the second quarter. Acerinox put this down to the usual summer slowdown in Europe. Net financial debt rose by €174 million to €1.5 billion, mainly because working capital went up by €152 million and the company paid a €77 million dividend. Acerinox expects fourth-quarter EBITDA to be lower than in the third quarter because US activity usually slows at year end. Chief executive Bernardo Velázquez said its US subsidiary, North American Stainless, remains the base of the group’s profits.

In Europe, Acerinox said CBAM, which has applied since 1 January, and the EU’s new trade measures, in force since 1 July, have sharply cut imports. The trade measures cut annual quotas by 55% and raise the out-of-quota duty from 25% to 50%. Local producers have not benefited yet, the company said, because stock built up in the second quarter as buyers brought in imports ahead of the new measures, and because the economy is weak (results presentation).

Loharo comparison: Acerinox’s two stainless markets

Stainless flat products	Europe	United States
Apparent demand, third quarter vs second	−22%	+6%
Apparent demand, first nine months vs 2025	−11%	−2%
Imports, first nine months vs 2025	−42%	−18%
Import share of the market	16%	21% (24% in 2025)
Stock vs historical average	1.4% above	9% below
Main trade protection	CBAM + quotas with 50% out-of-quota duty	Section 232 + 15% global tariff

Analysis One figure is easy to misread. Some reports present the 22% fall in European demand as a year-on-year drop. Acerinox’s presentation labels it as a fall from the second quarter, much of it seasonal. Over nine months, demand is 11% lower. Using Acerinox’s own figures, if imports are now 16% of the market after falling 42% while demand fell 11%, imports were roughly 25% of the market a year earlier (0.16 × 0.89 ÷ 0.58 ≈ 24.6%). That means the rest of the market, EU mill deliveries plus stock drawn down, was almost flat, at about −1%. This assumes the 16% share and the percentage changes use the same nine-month basis, which Acerinox does not state. In short, the import gap has mostly been filled by stock, not by new orders at EU mills.

What it means for buyers

Analysis While stock remains above average, buyers still have some bargaining power with EU mills. Acerinox’s own timeline suggests this lasts until early 2027. After that, a market that now gets only about a sixth of its stainless flat products from imports will depend more on EU mills, and imports beyond quota pay 50%. First-quarter quotas open on 1 January. If your 2027 plan relies on imported coil, check with your supplier which quota line and origin it falls under. For contracts covering the first quarter of 2027, agree in writing who pays the out-of-quota duty and the CBAM cost if a shipment misses its quota.

What to watch

• Fourth quarter: whether EU stainless stock falls back to its historical average, which Acerinox says must happen before it can benefit from the trade measures.
• 1 January 2027: EU quotas for the first quarter of 2027 open.
• Full-year results: whether Acerinox confirms the European recovery it expects in early 2027.

Primary sources

• Results for the third quarter of 2026 — Acerinox, 30 October 2026
• Q3 2026 results presentation — Acerinox, 30 October 2026
• Q2 2026 results presentation (first-half import share) — Acerinox, second-quarter 2026 results
• Acerinox’s net profit jumps to €162 million in the first nine months, while reporting a 46% increase in EBITDA — Acerinox press release, 30 October 2026

Supporting sources

• Acerinox’s profit jumps in Q3 2026 as US business boosts results despite weak European demand — SteelOrbis, 30 October 2026

Related on Loharo

• EU steel tariff quotas three months in: 50% duty, melt-and-pour proof and a looming Q1 2027 crunch
• EU moves to keep anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled stainless from China, Indonesia and Taiwan for five more years
• Japan’s duties on Chinese and Taiwanese cold-rolled stainless start on 31 October; Taiwan’s EU quota is 60% used
• CBAM Q3 price set at €82.32: what steel importers will owe for 2026 imports, and when the bill lands

Last fact-check: 3 November 2026.