The European Union (EU) has directed customs authorities to register imports of certain hot-rolled flat stainless steel products from China, Indonesia and Taiwan amid ongoing anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on exports from these countries.
Anti-dumping investigation on imports of hot-rolled flat stainless steel products originating from China, Indonesia and Taiwan was initiated on Aug 16 after Eurofer lodged a complaint on June 28, 2019, on behalf of European steel producers. Additionally, anti-subsidy proceeding against hot-rolled flat stainless steel products exported from China and Indonesia was initiated on Oct 10. The EU’s order to register imports of hot-rolled stainless steel flat products will allow the Union to retroactively impose tariffs on old transactions if anti-dumping and countervailing duties are imposed on China, Indonesia and Taiwan.
EU compared imports from these countries in August, the month when the investigation was initiated, to import volumes of flat stainless steel products from Sep-Nov 2019 period. Imports of hot-rolled flat stainless steel products rose by 10pc than the average monthly volume of imports in August. Imports from China went up by 50pc during this period, while imports from Indonesia dropped by 75pc. Imports of concerned products from Taiwan also rose by 14pc. In addition, average unit price of flat-rolled products imported from these countries dropped by 1pc in the period.
In 2018, around 35pc of the EU’s supply of hot-rolled stainless steel sheets and coils came from outside of Europe.