Mining News Pro - According to the recent updates, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has initiated anti-dumping duty investigations on imported stainless steel billets and hot-rolled stainless steel plates that originated from the European Union (EU), Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
China’s MOFCOM has initiated its probe after receiving an application from a stainless steel company in north China’s Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel with backing from four other mills including Baosteel’s Stainless Steel division on June 22, 2018.
Shanxi Taigang accounts for about 25-30% of China’s stainless steel market. According to the complaint filed by Shanxi Taigang the rapid increase in imports has caused real damage to the Chinese market with about 98% of imports coming from EU, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
As per China’s customs data, the country has imported about 703,000 tonnes of stainless steel products in 2017, up by about 200% against 2016. Thus, the period under investigation stretches from Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017, and the investigation period for industrial damage is from Jan. 1, 2014 to March 31, 2018.
India already has countervailing duty in place on stainless steel imports
In September 2017, India has imposed 18.9% of countervailing duty on Chinese hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel imports. Countervailing duty is country specific and is imposed to safeguard the domestic industry against unfair trade subsidies provided by the governments of exporting nations.
The duty was imposed after the DGAD (Directorate General of Anti-dumping Duty) concluded that that subsidised imports from China had increased significantly and domestic industry continued to suffer losses. This duty will remain effective for five years i.e. till 2022.
China’s percentage share in India’s total stainless steel imports over the past three years stood at around 50%. In 2017, India imported about 479,998 tonnes of stainless steel according to ISSDA (Indian Stainless Steel Association) data.