The Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 30 officially decided to levy anti-dumping duties on imported coated steel from mainland China (including Hong Kong) and the Republic of Korea.
Accordingly, Bazhou Sanqiang Metal Products will be taxed 26.36 percent, BX Steel POSCO Cold Rolled Sheet 38.34 percent, Bengang Steel Plates 27.36 percent, Tianjin Haigang Steel Coil 26.32 percent, Hebei Iron & Steel Co Ltd, Tangshan Branch 38.34 percent, Wuhan Iron and Steel 33.49 percent. Chinese Yeih Phui Technomaterial was axed at the lowest rate of 3.17 percent.
POSCO of the RoK will be charged 7.02 percent anti-dumping tax while other RoK exporters will be taxed 19 percent.
The decision takes effect after 15 days after the signing and will be in place for five years.
It follows a December 2015 appeal by four local steelmakers asking the Government for measures to prevent coated steel sheets shipped from mainland China and the RoK from being sold at cheap prices.
The ministry issued a decision on March 3, 2016 on initiating an investigation of the claims by domestic steelmakers and on September 1, the ministry issued temporary anti-dumping duties on the products.
Nguyen Van Sua, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), said imported steel from the RoK accounted for a small portion of 4.57 percent during the investigation period in comparison with other imported products, including coated steel for high-end markets of automobiles and electronics. In addition, the price of coated steel imported from the RoK was 85 USD per tonne higher than that of locally produced steel in Vietnam.
Steel exports show optimism
Vietnam’s import-export report issued for the first time by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the capital city on Wednesday predicts a positive outlook for steel exports as China’s steel exports are expected to decline due to surging demand at home.
However, it also notes that the industry faces fierce competition from cheap imported steel, and anti-dumping duties imposed by many countries including the US, Canada, Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Since 2007, Vietnam’s steel exports have faced 29 lawsuits, 18 of them for anti-dumping duties.
But despite the lawsuits, in 2016, the country’s steel exports rose 36 percent from the previous year to 3.48 million tonnes worth 2.03 billion USD. Prices reached 580 USD per tonne, a 12 percent year-on-year decrease.
In recent years, Vietnam’s steel has been mostly exported to ASEAN markets due to high demand. However, exports to ASEAN have dropped due to trade defence measures by importing countries.
Last year, steel exports to the region reached only 1.81 million tonnes, 7.3 percent and 18 percent less in terms of quantity and value from the previous year.
On the other hand, exports surged to certain countries reaching 568.5 million USD (up 328 percent) to the US, 121.4 million USD to the RoK (up 147.7 percent), 33.3 million USD to Taiwan (up 270 percent) and 37.5 million USD to Pakistan (up 221.5 percent).
VNA
