EC considers scrapping MIP, replacing with fixed duty

The European Commission is considering fixed duties per ton rather than ad valorem duties capped by the minimum import price on material from Brazil, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, according to a document obtained by S&P Global Platts.

The move follows input from Member States, which voted against the original proposal and suggested the duties should be replaced by a fixed duty/mt.

In the document, the Commission said: “Company-specific fixed duties per ton take better into consideration the needs of users in the specific situation of the present case than ad valorem duties, because they ensure that even where world market prices increase significantly after the investigation period, they would not burden them disproportionately.”

The Commission said fixed duties per ton give “immediate protection to the Union industry against injurious dumping at a set level of duties, while excluding that importers and users may be forced to pay higher duties in the future.”

it also said fixed duties ensure “better stability and predictability for users and consumers, because it remain fixed over time.”
“This document is a very much different proposal from the MIP idea. In this way the European mills will have sort of guarantee margins of €50-60/mt,” a source commented.

The fixed amount of duty per tonne is based on a level equal to the margin of dumping or injury established during the investigation for every cooperating exporting producer of the product concerned, whichever was found to be lower.

The rate of the duty, expressed in a fixed amount EUR/MT, applicable to each exporting producer is showed in the table below.

Annalisa Villa, PLATTS

HRC
EC undesclosed document
COMPANY DEFINITIVE DUTY RATE €/mt
BRAZIL AM BRASIL 54.5
APERAM INOX AMERICA DO SUL 54.5
COMPANHIA SIDERURGICA NACIONAL 53.4
USIMINAS 63.0
GERDAU ACOMINAS 55.8
IRAN MOBARAKEH STEEL COMPANY 58.0
RUSSIA NOVOLIPETSK STEEL 53.3
MAGNITOGORSK IRON & STEEL 96.5
SEVERSTAL 17.6
UKRAINE METINVEST 60.5