Electrical Steel (CRGO & CRNO: Grain-Oriented and Non-Oriented Silicon Steel Coil)

Grain-oriented coil for transformer cores and non-oriented coil for motors, bought on core loss and thickness

Electrical steel is silicon-iron strip rolled for magnetic cores, and the customs definition is exact: silicon-electrical steel holds at least 0.6% and not more than 6% silicon, not more than 0.08% carbon and up to 1% aluminium, so a low-silicon lamination steel below that floor is declared as ordinary flat-rolled steel, not under HS 7225.11, 7225.19, 7226.11 or 7226.19. Grain-oriented steel (CRGO, GOES) has its best magnetic properties developed along the rolling direction, carries about 3% silicon and goes into the cores of power and distribution transformers and large generators. EN 10107:2014 lists it in nominal thicknesses of 0.23, 0.27, 0.30 and 0.35 mm in two classes, conventional and high-permeability, and IEC 60404-8-7:2020 adds a third, magnetic-domain-refined high-permeability grades, in which the domains are narrowed by scribing the surface with a laser or mechanically; some mills also roll 0.20 mm, and domain-refined grades that keep their loss through a stress-relief anneal. Grain-oriented grades are sold on core loss quoted as W17/50, watts per kilogram at 1.7 T and 50 Hz measured along the rolling direction, and the UK tariff splits grain-oriented sheet over 0.16 mm into maximum core loss bands of up to 0.9 W/kg, 0.9–1.05 W/kg and above 1.05 W/kg. Non-oriented steel (CRNO, NOES) has similar properties in every direction and is stamped into laminations for motors, generators and small transformers; EN 10106:2015 lists it in nominal thicknesses of 0.35, 0.50, 0.65 and 1.00 mm and classifies the grades, M-grades such as M250-50A, by maximum specific total loss in W/kg and by thickness, with loss quoted as W15/50, while low-loss and high-tensile grades serve high-speed rotating machines. Both products carry an insulation coating, whose types ASTM A976 classifies. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put grain-oriented sheet of 600 mm and wider (HS 7225.11) at USD 3.10 bn across 37 reporters, led by China at 37.3% and Japan at 31.0%, then Germany 8.2%, Korea 6.3%, France 4.6%, Poland 4.0% and the USA 3.6%; other silicon-electrical sheet of 600 mm and wider, the non-oriented trade (HS 7225.19), at USD 2.35 bn, led by China 24.7%, Korea 21.4%, Taiwan 15.5%, Germany 13.0% and Japan 11.3%; and grain-oriented strip under 600 mm (HS 7226.11) at USD 674 m, led by the Netherlands, France, China and Germany. India declared USD 2.3 m of wide grain-oriented exports and USD 15.6 m of narrow strip, so Indian export supply is limited.

The buyers are power and distribution transformer makers and core builders, lamination stampers and slitting centres, and motor and generator manufacturers. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers electrical steel from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, German, French, Polish and Austrian mills and their distributors to those buyers, against a mill certificate that states grade, thickness, measured loss and the country where the steel was melted and poured. Trade measures differ by product and market. In the United States, anti-dumping duty orders on non-oriented electrical steel from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden and Taiwan, with countervailing duty orders on China and Taiwan, have applied since December 2014 and were continued in May 2026; their scope is non-oriented steel with more than 1.00% and less than 3.5% silicon, 0.20 mm and thicker, under HTSUS 7225.19 and 7226.19. US Section 232 duties apply on full customs value under the proclamation effective 8 June 2026, 50% on articles entirely or almost entirely of steel, while certain electrical grid equipment pays 15% through 31 December 2027. EU imports fall under Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 from 1 July 2026, with annual tariff quotas across 30 product categories identified by CN code, a 50% out-of-quota duty and evidence at importation, such as a mill certificate, of the melt-and-pour country; CBAM applies to the iron and steel goods listed by CN code in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2023/956, and since 1 January 2026 an EU importer of more than 50 tonnes a year must be an authorised CBAM declarant, so the producer's embedded-emissions data travels with the coil. India makes steel standards mandatory product by product through Quality Control Orders, with 151 carbon, alloy and stainless steel products notified by August 2024, so a buyer importing into India confirms whether the grade is covered and, if it is, that the mill holds BIS certification for it. Coils and slit coils are packed moisture-tight on skids with VCI or waterproof paper, steel wrap and edge protection, and ship in 20-foot containers or breakbulk, where CBIL's chartering desk (LaycanDesk) quotes the freight. Terms are FOB, CFR, CIF and DAP, and electrical steel is priced per metric tonne on grade, maximum core loss, thickness and width. Send the product (grain-oriented or non-oriented), standard and grade, maximum loss and its test basis, thickness and width, coil or slit coil, coating, monthly tonnage and discharge port.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices steel coil and plates breakbulk freight on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.