EC heavy plate decision in November could be in 65-73% range

The European Union is likely to find provisional anti-dumping duty rates on heavy plate originating in China: from Nanjing Iron & Steel at 73%, Minmetals Medium Plate Co 65%, Wuyang 74% and all other companies at 70%, Fabricio di Gianni, partner at trade law firm Van Bael & Bellis, said at the EUROMETAL conference in Milan on Thursday.

As Platts reported, the EU opened this investigation on 13 February 2016, so that after nine months the market expects a result. However, some market players said that are actually expecting not only less than 60-70%, but rather duties of around 30%.

According to di Gianni, it is likely that the EU will impose duties on HRC in November at 15-20%, a level that other market participants agreed is likely.

He said also that there are rumours that the EU is looking into opening an investigation into galvanized coil from China and South Korea, plus alloy bar from China.

The EU has nine active AD investigations underway on steel products. In the last six months the EU imposed definitive duties in four steel-related AD cases and terminated one investigation without adopting any measures.

Annalisa Villa, PLATTS