Metinvest says EU steel quotas unfairly hit Ukraine: carve-out demand meets a firm 50% over-quota duty

What happened

In a BBC interview published on 19 October 2026, Metinvest chief executive Yuriy Ryzhenkov argued that EU steel import restrictions put in place to curb cheap steel from origins such as China have “bundled” Ukraine together with other suppliers. He said he wants “at least a carve out” for Ukrainian steel on the EU market and that access to Europe is “crucial for survival”. The BBC reports that Ukraine’s steel industry estimates exports to the EU could ultimately fall by about 50–60%.

A European Commission spokesperson told the BBC that the EU “took into account the difficult situation” of Ukraine when deciding its steel policy, that Ukraine’s specific steel quota still guarantees exports (at a “level lower than in the past years”), and that compensations had been offered to large suppliers including Ukraine. Those remarks are attributed to the BBC’s interview; we have not seen a separate Commission press release with the same wording.

The legal backdrop is Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, which has applied since 1 July 2026. Commission Access2Markets guidance summarises the core commercial rules: total duty-free tariff-rate quotas are cut by about 47% compared with the 2024 reference system, the annual duty-free volume is about 18.3 Mt, and imports above quota face a 50% duty. The same note states that Ukraine’s situation — including its status as an EU candidate country with particular security concerns — will be taken into account when country-specific quotas are allocated. Country and product volumes are set in Commission implementing acts (notably Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457); EUR-Lex HTML/PDF was blocked by a bot check in this run, so we do not restate annex tonne figures here.

Separately, EUROMETAL reported on 14 October (citing Kallanish) that a Commission spokesperson said there were “no discussions planned” with Ukraine to renegotiate export quotas under the revised Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), and that trade data so far “proves the fair and balanced nature” of the revised TRQ amounts. That is a secondary report of a Commission comment, not an Official Journal text.

Why it matters commercially

For EU service centres, tube makers and OEMs that buy Ukrainian hot-rolled coil, plate or longs, the Metinvest interview does not change the law overnight. It does underline two simultaneous pressures: wartime interruption at Ukrainian melt shops, and a firm EU duty-free ceiling with a 50% surcharge once that ceiling is used. Analysis

If Ukrainian exports into the EU shrink by anything like the industry’s 50–60% estimate, buyers who treated Ukraine as a low-carbon or price-competitive alternative to Turkish or Indian flats will need other origins — and those other origins are competing for the same quarterly EU quotas, many of which filled quickly after the Q4 2026 opening (see our tariff-quota guide). Out-of-quota Ukrainian steel is not “cheap wartime supply”; it is 50% dearer at the border before freight, CBAM and melt-and-pour paperwork. Analysis

Importers must also present melt-and-pour evidence (typically a mill test certificate stating melt-and-pour country and heat number) for products covered by the steel regulation. That paperwork test applies regardless of whether the political debate over Ukraine’s quota size moves. Analysis

Who is affected

• EU buyers of Ukrainian flats and longs — treat remaining duty-free Ukrainian quota as scarce; price any over-quota option at +50% duty plus CBAM.
• Traders and service centres — dual-source Q1 2027 arrival programmes; do not assume a political carve-out before it appears in an Official Journal act.
• Ukrainian producers and their EU customers — commercial talks continue against a Commission line (as reported) that country quotas already reflect Ukraine’s situation.
• EU producers — tighter Ukrainian volumes reduce one competitive import origin inside the TRQ system, but do not reopen the overall 18.3 Mt ceiling.

What to watch next

• Official Journal or Commission notice — any change to Ukraine’s country-specific volumes or DCFTA steel TRQs would appear there first; secondary interviews are not the law.
• Q1 2027 quota opening (1 January) — whether Ukrainian allocations fill early, and how much tonnage moves through the shared FTA pools after country quotas are exhausted.
• Ukrainian mill operating status — further outages change the physical supply available to fill quotas, independent of the legal ceiling.
• Melt-and-pour documentation — incomplete mill test certificates still risk rejection at the border for covered products.

Sources

Primary sources

• New EU safeguards on steel imports from third countries — European Commission Access2Markets, 30 June 2026
• Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 — Official Journal of the EU (EUR-Lex; annex volumes not re-fetched in this run)

Supporting sources

• EU tariffs aimed at China hitting Ukraine, steel boss says — BBC, 19 October 2026
• European Commission won’t renegotiate quotas with Ukraine — EUROMETAL (citing Kallanish), 14 October 2026

Related on Loharo

• EU steel tariff quotas three months in: 50% duty, melt-and-pour proof and a looming Q1 2027 crunch
• Steel trade defence explained (scheduled)
• Steel Trade Measures Tracker

Last fact-check: 19 October 2026 (Europe/Amsterdam).