South Korea officially imposes anti-dumping duties on Chinese stainless steel plates

The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) has decided to recommend that the country's Ministry of Economy and Finance officially impose anti-dumping (AD) duties of 21.62 percent on hot-rolled stainless steel sheets imported from China for the next five years.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), which oversees the KTC, on June 26, the KTC's investigation concluded that the dumping of these products caused "significant injury" to the domestic industry. Therefore, the ministry proposed to impose duties on steel sheets exported to Korea by several Chinese companies, including Best Win International, Jiangsu Daekyung Stainless Steel, and Hong Kong-based Schuang International Development.

These duties apply to Chinese steel sheets with a thickness of at least 4.75mm and a width of at least 600mm. The HS codes of the products involved are: 7219.21.1010, 7219.21.1090, 7219.21.9000, 7219.22.1010, 7219.22.1090 and 7219.22.9000, Mysteel reported.

In a preliminary ruling earlier this month, the South Korean Ministry of Finance imposed a provisional duty of 21.62 percent for four months to “prevent further injury to the domestic industry during the investigation period,” as reported.

The investigation was initiated following a petition filed in June last year by DK Corp, the only company in South Korea that produces stainless steel plates. The company claimed that the Chinese steel products were being sold below fair market value and estimated the “dumping margin” of the companies involved at 6.32 percent.

DKC, established in 1990, operates a 120,000-ton-per-year plant in the eastern city of Pohang that produces both regular and duplex stainless steel plates for use in petrochemical, semiconductor, nuclear power, desalination and similar industries. POSCO currently holds a 10 percent stake in DKC indirectly.

Meanwhile, the Maeil Business News reported that the South Korean steel industry is considering filing additional AD cases against several other Chinese steel products, “including galvanized steel, color-coated steel and special alloy steel, following its previous actions against steel plates.”

In February, the KTC also backed Hyundai Steel’s claim that imports of carbon steel plates from China were causing injury, and recommended anti-dumping duties of up to 38.02 percent, according to reports.

Source: Mysteel