The European Commission (EC) has extended definitive countervailing duties on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products (SSCR) originating in Indonesia to cover imports of material consigned from Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam, Kallanish notes. This is to prevent Indonesia-origin material from circumventing duties. The countervailing duty amounts to 20.5%.
The Commission has also extended the existing anti-dumping duty rate of 19.3% to imports of SSCR from Taiwan and Vietnam.
Six exporting producers from Taiwan requested and obtained an exemption from the extension of measures. Yieh United Steel Corporation, Tang Eng Iron Works Co. part of YUSCO group, Chia Far Industrial Factory, Yuan Long Stainless Steel Corp, Tung Mung Development, and Walsin Lihwa were buying part of their slab and stainless hot rolled coil of Indonesian origin, processing them into SSCR and then exporting some SSCR to the EU.
“However, the investigation found that this operation did not start or substantially increase since, or just prior to, the initiation of the original anti-dumping investigation … It follows that … the operation in question cannot be considered as circumventing the measures in force,” the EC states.
Turkey’s Trinox and Posco Assan TST Celik Sanayi A.Ş. also requested exemptions. The Union rejected Trinox’s request but accepted Posco Assan’s. The investigation found that Posco’s exports did not start or substantially increase since the initiation of the investigation. Vietnamese companies Lam Khang and Yongjin Metal Technology’s exemption requests were rejected, while Posco VST’s appeal was successful.
In 2022, the EC imposed definitive countervailing duties on stainless cold-rolled flats originating in Indonesia following an anti-subsidy investigation. The investigation established that significant volumes of stainless steel, either in the form of slab or stainless HRC, exported from Indonesia, were further processed into SSCR in Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam to be later exported to the Union.
SSCR exports from these countries to the EU increased during the investigation in 2021 and surged after the implementation of measures in 2022. European steel association Eurofer petitioned in 2023 to investigate the possible circumvention of the countervailing measures imposed on imports of SSCR originating in Indonesia.
Eurofer has welcomed the extension of the duties. “The Commission’s investigation has confirmed that a significant circumvention is taking place through imports from Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam,” says Eurofer director general Axel Eggert.
“The anti-circumvention measures published today are important to ensure the complete effectiveness of the original measures and to avoid that artificially cheap, dumped, and subsidised semi-products (stainless slabs and hot rolled coils) sourced from Indonesia freely enter the European market, endangering the European stainless steel industry,” he adds.
The association adds that the Commission will also apply strict monitoring on imports from Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam to determine if they are made from steel melted and poured in Indonesia.
Natalia Capra France