Global News Of Note: EU Steel Duties, Climate Change Deal, China Steel Output

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• The European Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of electrolytic chromium coated steel (ECCS) originating in China and Brazil. The duties will range from €239 per ton to € 607 per ton of ECCS imported. ECCS is used in a wide range of products, but are most typically used for consumer and industrial packaging. It is most frequently used for food packaging but also is found in protective material for optical fiber protection or other electrical and electronic parts. The value of the EU ECCS market is almost €500 million. Read more here.
• Last week, the United States, Indonesia, and other allies signed a $20 billion deal to help Indonesia reduce its reliance on coal. Specifically, the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) will help Indonesia reduce emissions and transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The United States co-led the deal with Japan. Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the United Kingdom also signed on. As part of the pact, Indonesia will develop an investment plan to achieve new targets, such as establishing a goal to reach net zero emissions in the power sector by 2050. Read more here.
• According to Reuters, China’s steel output fell 8.3 percent from September 2022 to October 2022 due to ongoing shutdowns related to COVID-19 and “a deepening crisis in the country’s property sector hit demand, leading some mills to start maintenance outages early.” China produced 79.76 million tons of the metal last month, down from 86.95 million tons in September. Production was up 11 percent between September 2021 and October 2021, however.