[Pb Ingot] Lead Shipments from Shanghai Recover after Storm

The EU Commission's 44th Trade Defence Report, published September 17, 2026, highlighted 32 new investigations and 232 active measures, but made no mention of two WTO panel defeats in 2025. One is directly relevant to stainless steel: in October 2025, a WTO dispute settlement panel rejected the core legal construction behind the EU's countervailing duties on Indonesian cold-rolled stainless steel, specifically the attribution of Chinese financing as an Indonesian subsidy. The Commission appealed the ruling to the Appellate Body — which has been dysfunctional since 2020 — a manoeuvre Brussels routinely criticizes other trading partners for using to obstruct the rules-based order. The stainless steel case appears in the report only because Egypt raised it in the WTO Committee; the outcome itself goes unmentioned.

The European Commission issued a Statement of Objections regarding MMG's proposed acquisition of Anglo American's Brazilian nickel operations, a move welcomed by EUROFER. Director General Axel Eggert stated that any transaction affecting strategic raw materials should strengthen competition, security of supply, and Europe's industrial autonomy rather than create new dependencies. EUROFER warned that further concentration in strategic raw material supply could increase suppliers' pricing power and reduce purchasing options for European stainless steel producers, who rely on competitively priced, low-carbon ferronickel to meet decarbonization requirements. The association also pointed to Indonesia's nickel ore export ban as a precedent for supply chain disruption, arguing that further consolidation of Brazilian nickel supply warrants careful scrutiny. EUROFER called for robust, lasting structural, governance, or ownership-based safeguards — rather than solely contractual commitments — to preserve direct and competitive access for European stainless steel producers to the Anglo American Brazilian assets.

대만(중국)의 베트남산 냉간압연 스테인리스에 대한 반덤핑 조사가 업계의 심각한 분열을 드러냈다. 신청인인 위스코와 탕엥철공은 베트남산 수입 급증과 가격 하락으로 지난해 국내 손실이 28억 대만달러에 달했고 가동률이 50%까지 떨어졌다고 주장한다. 베트남 생산업체 측 대리인은 수입 시장 점유율이 여전히 8% 수준이며 가격 하락은 의도적인 덤핑보다는 지역 시장 추세를 반영한다고 반박한다. 특히 국내 다운스트림 가공업체인 위안룽과 퉁멍은 조사에 반대하며, 업스트림 생산업체들이 인도네시아에서 저가의 열간압연 반제품을 수입하면서 해외 냉간압연 공급원을 차단하려 한다고 비판하고, 31.36%의 덤핑 마진이 수출 경쟁력을 위축시키고 공급망 위험을 초래할 것이라고 경고했다.