The European Commission has initiated provisional anti-dumping duties of 17.2%-28.5% for imports of corrosion-resistant coated steel from China.
The much anticipated measure is the latest in a list of trade actions targeting imports from China and means tariffs have been imposed across the primary flat products suite: duties are already in place for hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and plate.
The move follows a provisional note from the EC last month proposing final duties and a Minimum Import Price for HRC imports from Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Iran.
According to an official notice, the duties will be imposed on "imports of flat-rolled products of iron or alloy steel or non-alloy steel; aluminium killed; plated or coated by hot dip galvanisation with zinc and/or with aluminium, and no other metal; chemically passivated; containing by weight: 0.015% or more but not more than 0.170% of carbon, 0.015% or more but not more than 0.100% of aluminium, not more than 0.045% of niobium, not more than 0.010% of titanium and not more than 0.010% of vanadium; presented in coils, cut-to-length sheets and narrow strips."
Trade of Chinese HDG had largely dried up in advance of the announcement with most in the market expecting measures to be imposed. The EC introduced an Implementing Regulation in July making imports subject to registration allowing the possible retroactive implication of anti-dumping duties to that point.
In the first five months of the year, EU imports of Chinese HDG rose 47% year on year to 1.48 million mt as buyers ended 2016 by booking as much volume as they could in anticipation of the measures. The influx did much to dampen the domestic European market as stocks throughout western Europe, and most notably in the UK, were at a much higher level than normal cutting apparent demand in Q2 in particular.
