Lamy says the EU's carbon border tax hits Ukraine's two biggest exports to the bloc, steel and electricity, and argues an exemption should be tied to Ukraine's decarbonization progress under its EU membership bid; several MEPs and a trade association have echoed the call. Ukraine was the EU's top CBAM-covered steel exporter as of end-2025, while Bruegel estimates the mechanism could cut Ukrainian power exports to the EU by over 60%. Ukrainian long-product exports already fell 42% YoY in 1H2026, with exporters facing CBAM charges of €58/tonne (vs. ~€18/tonne for EAF-based competitors) due to a high average carbon intensity of 2.1 tCO₂/tonne, a production structure that would take billions in investment to change.

【SMM Stainless Steel Market】While some market respondents believe the EU's new, stricter steel trade defense mechanism (which cuts quotas and raises tariffs to 50%) could be fast-tracked for implementation by April 1, 2026, this timeline is uncertain. According to MEPS, the legislation requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states. Furthermore, if approved, the EU may be forced to pay compensation or face retaliatory tariffs from key trading partners. These factors suggest negotiations over the new measures could be protracted, delaying implementation past the April date.

[SMM Titanium Weekly: Domestic Demand Stabilizes While Export Pressure Awaits Breakthrough] This week, the titanium industry chain exhibited a "domestic stability with external weakness, divergent operation" pattern. Titanium concentrate prices held steady, benefiting from stockpiling demand during the September peak season, with the market generally stable with slight rise. Domestic titanium dioxide prices rose by 200-250 yuan/mt, but exports remained under pressure, especially for chloride-process products where inventory pressure was prominent. Future trends will depend on order intake and destocking progress. High-titanium slag tenders are about to commence, with prices weakly stabilized by cost support. Sponge titanium faced severe inventory buildup in the civilian sector, and the effectiveness of production cuts remains to be verified, with actual demand still reliant on titanium product recovery. The titanium product market continued sluggish, dominated by just-in-time procurement, with no signs of demand recovery yet. Overall, domestic policies and peak season expectations provided some psychological support to the market, but tangible transaction recovery still requires substantive downstream demand release.