South Korea has extended anti-dumping duties levied on stainless steel plates from Japan by three years. A duty of 13.17pc was levied in the year 2011 to safeguard the interests of domestic industry in South Korea against lower-priced imports from Japan.
The domestic industry was worried about exports from Japan at less than fair value, particularly from the Nippon Group and JFE holdings, according to the media reports. The South Korean Finance Ministry, while extending the duty, informed there were concerns over industrial damage amid risk of recurrence of unfair practice.
In February 2020, COVID-19 cases in South Korea were on an uptrend making it the country with the second-highest number of infections after China. Demand for stainless steel in South Korea slumped during the pandemic adversely impacting stainless steel producers in Korea.