EC officially initiates anti-dumping investigation into Turkish HRC

The European Commission has officially announced the initiation of its investigation to determine potential anti-dumping duties on Turkish-origin hot rolled coil imports.

The investigation was anticipated last week in a note published by ArcelorMittal (see Kallanish passim).

The investigation was opened following a complaint by Eurofer lodged at the end of March. The probe will cover imports of products under CN codes 72081000, 72082500, 72082600, 72082700, 72083600, 72083700, 72083800, 72083900, 72084000, 72085210, 72085299, 72085310, 72085390, 72085400, 72111300, 72111400 and 72111900. Also included are codes ex 72251910 (TARIC code 7225191090), 72253090, ex 72254060 (TARIC code 7225406090), 72254090, ex 72261910 (TARIC code 7226191090), 72269191 and 72269199.

Provisional measures could be imposed by the end of the current year, while permanent measures will be determined by mid-2021, Kallanish notes.

According to Eurofer data, Turkey was the largest supplier of HR wide strip to Europe in 2019, selling over 230,000 tonnes/month on average. This level was almost five times higher than the tonnages it supplied in 2015. During the first two months of this year imports from Turkey reached only 63,000 t/m on average, Eurofer reports.

The EU currently has AD measures in place against HRC imports from China, Russia, Ukraine and Brazil.