What the EU actually pays for imported hot-rolled coil: the latest customs unit value in € per tonne, the tonnes moving in and out, the top non-EU origins, and where the safeguard quota and CBAM bite.
Live · Eurostat COMEXT + ECBHS 7208Updated monthly, about a two-month lagUnit values are declared trade averages, not spot prices
Material decision brief · reviewed 4 Sep 2026Evidence confidence: limited
Hot-rolled steel: a near-flat import average with heavy net import volume
The June 2026 Extra-EU hot-rolled import unit value was €570/t, 2.6% above June 2025. Imports reached 790,815 t and exceeded exports by 703,517 t. Indonesia and Malaysia represented 51.0% of recorded import value.
What changed
The import customs average moved only modestly year on year, while the export unit value was 20.2% higher. The two directions have different shipment and product mixes.
What did not
The HS 7208 average is not a mill offer or a regional HRC assessment. It cannot resolve grade, width, coating, quota availability or delivery basis. The plastics PPI is not used.
What buyers should monitor
Exact CN code and grade, safeguard quota status, mill and port delivery terms, origin, anti-dumping exposure, freight and FX.
Evidence for this brief
Source: Eurostat Comext, EU27 extra-EU trade, HS 7208, June 2026; ECB reference FX. Retrieved 4 September 2026. Confidence is limited because the customs basket and export mix differ and the data cannot establish a current HRC market price or causal driver.
Hot-rolled coil is the benchmark of the steel world — the flat steel that becomes tube, automotive body, appliances, cold-rolled and coated products — so its price sets the tone for the entire steel chain, and the EU's import rules for it are among the most consequential in trade policy.
This page tracks the European Union's trade in hot-rolled flat steel (HS heading 7208) with the rest of the world, live from official data: the import and export unit values in euros per tonne (declared customs trade averages, not a spot HRC index), the tonnes and value moving in and out, the trade balance, the euro–dollar rate, and — crucially — which non-EU countries the EU actually buys its steel from. Below that you'll find the EU steel tariff, safeguard quota and CBAM and the customs HS/CN codes.
How this page is built. Every number above is fetched live in your browser from
Eurostat COMEXT (EU international trade in goods,
HS 7208) and the European Central Bank (euro reference rates).
The unit value is the declared customs value divided by the net mass — a trade average across every shipment in the
month, not a spot or contract quote; see how customs unit
values differ from market prices. COMEXT publishes with roughly a two-month lag and revises earlier months, so the
latest point can move. Duty rates are indicative and come from the European Commission's TARIC / Access2Markets;
confirm the legal rate before you trade on it.
Worked example — illustrative FOB quote to landed cost
Assume an illustrative supplier FOB quote of €690/t, excluding international freight and insurance. This is not the customs unit value above or a current supplier offer.
Eurostat import values are already CIF: do not add international freight and insurance again.
Add sea freight and insurance to a north-European port, say €55/t → CIF €745/t.
Duty: hot-rolled coil enters at 0% MFN from most origins, so nothing is added here — but the EU safeguard quota can add an out-of-quota duty once a country's quota is exhausted, and CBAM reporting applies. Check the duty, quota and CBAM table for the origin you actually buy from.
Where the EU sources its steel matters enormously, because the applicable safeguard quota, anti-dumping duty and CBAM cost all depend on the country of origin. Explore individual suppliers:
The "unit value" is the declared trade value divided by the net mass — a customs-derived average price, not a live HRC index or contract quote. This page anchors on HS 7208 (hot-rolled flat steel); cold-rolled (7209), coated (7210) and semi-finished (7207) sit under their own headings. Steel is covered by the EU safeguard quota and by CBAM. "Extra-EU" trade is trade with countries outside the EU. All figures come from Eurostat's COMEXT database and the European Central Bank, reused under their free-reuse terms with attribution, updating monthly with roughly a two-month lag. MatQuo is an analytical tool, not investment advice.
A lightweight iframe shows the latest available EU import customs unit value and up to twelve available monthly observations, with a dated fallback if the live source is unavailable.