ISTA to meet UK govt on Tata Steel import concerns
ISTA had called for an immediate solution to make it possible for UK buyers to import Indian material. Sources close to the matter told S&P Global Commodity Insights Aug. 3 that the UK government agreed to meet the trade body in September to discuss the matter.
In the July 27 letter seen by S&P Global that was sent to members late-Aug. 3, ISTA claims that the repeated steel orders by Tata Steel UK could be seen as “an unfairly attempt to manipulate the free market.”
“Like all UK steel producers, Tata benefits from the protection of the Safeguard Measures quota system, but it cannot be considered as fair trading practice to then take up that quota thus preventing importers from supplying their own customers,” the letter said.
“Steel already booked and currently on the water to the UK, destined for independent service centres and manufacturing, will not be able to be customs cleared and utilised – a fact Tata Steel know only too well,” ISTA said in the letter, warning that the lack of import opportunities would have a “devastating and immediate effect on steel manufacturing.”
ISTA suggested several options to resolve the matter: to either create a new import category code for Tata Steel’s own domestic use or changing the quota to be utilized for its intended imports and end-user customers. Another possibility would be to increase the quota volume for the other country category, under which Indian material falls.
Tata Steel to receive new order in Sep
Tata Steel has a 22,000 mt order of Indian HRC arriving in September for clearance under the quota period starting Oct. 1. The quota is expected to exceed immediately, sources said. The company is also said to have received a previous order of Indian material in June to support production of its Port Talbot works while it faced production problems.
Although it is understood that Tata has not received material in the current quota period July 1 to Sept. 30, the quota nevertheless is likely to be exhausted soon. There are 1,105 mt left under the other country quota as of Aug. 3, which means it is considered “critical” where a 25% duty deposit has to be paid. The opening balance was 22,837 mt.
Tata Steel UK declined to make an immediate comment on the matter when contacted Aug. 3 after usual office hours.
In an earlier statement July 27 to S&P Global, a spokesperson had said: “Tata Steel, like most other steelmakers, sometimes complements its own production with supplies from other sources to balance its utilisation of downstream businesses.”
The Platts weekly assessment for UK HRC was at GBP615/mt DDP West Midlands Aug 3, stable week on week, according to data from S&P Global.
Author Laura Varriale
UK suspends Iran, Russia HR flats anti-dumping duties
The UK has partially or completely suspended anti-dumping duties on flat steel from Iran and Russia in the case the product concerned is subjected to safeguard duty, once the applicable import quota has been surpassed, says the UK Trade Remedies Authority.
The trade remedies notice published on 2 August is effective immediately, Kallanish notes.
The anti-dumping duty on the steel goods will be charged only until the relevant import quota is exceeded. After that point, only the portion of the anti-dumping duty exceeding the safeguard duty along with the safeguard duty itself will be charged.
The hot-rolled flat iron, non-alloy, or other alloy steel goods subject to both anti-dumping and safeguard duty are usually imported into the UK under the following UK global tariff (UKGT) commodity codes: 72 08 10 00 00, 72 08 25 00 00, 72 08 26 00 00, 72 08 27 00 00, 72 08 36 00 00, 72 08 37 00 10, 72 08 37 00 90, 72 08 38 00 10, 72 08 38 00 90, 72 08 39 00 10, 72 08 39 00 90, 72 08 40 00 10, 72 08 40 00 90, 72 08 52 10 00, 72 08 52 99 00, 72 08 53 10 00, 72 08 53 90 00, 72 08 54 00 00, 72 11 13 00 11, 72 11 13 00 19, 72 11 14 00 10, 72 11 14 00 91, 72 11 14 00 95, 72 11 19 00 10, 72 11 19 00 91, 72 11 19 00 95, 72 25 19 10 90, 72 25 30 90 00, 72 25 40 90 00, 72 26 19 10 91, 72 26 19 10 95, 72 26 91 91 11, 72 26 91 91 19 and 72 26 91 99 00.
The new specific anti-dumping duty rates payable on hot-rolled steel originating in Iran or Russia vary upon exporter and origin.
In case of Iranian exporters, Mobarakeh Steel Company and others, there will be no anti-dumping duty after the suspension.
For Russian exporters, namely for NLMK and Severstal, there will be no anti-dumping duty after suspension, while for Magnitogorsk Iron Steel Works (MMK) and other Russian producers there will be an anti-dumping duty of £19.57/tonne ($24.90), or 8%. Before the suspension, Iranian exporters were levied with £48.12/t (17.9%).
For Russian exporters, the anti-dumping duty before suspension is £44.61 (15%) for NLMK, £14.73 (5.3%) for Severstal and £80.76 (33%) for MMK and others.
The public notice does not cover HR flat steel originating from Brazil or Ukraine, as it is excluded from the safeguard duty.
Elina Virchenko UAE
