by Jeff Yoders on MAY 5, 2016

The “High Level Meeting on Excess Capacity and Structural Adjustment in the Steel Sector” recently held in Brussels and organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development produced recently released statements from member nations addressing the issues of global steel overcapacity and overproduction.

The governments of Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and the U.S. issued a statement noting two relevant issues. First, the “challenges facing the steel industry, have an important global dimension that needs to be addressed through ongoing international dialogue”;  and, second, that “while the challenges facing the industry arise from many factors, such as structural and cyclical economic developments, government support measures have contributed to significant excess capacity, unfair trade, and distortions in steel trade flows.”

Much of the meeting was devoted to the problem of Chinese overcapacity. The signatory governments concurred on a number of steps that could be taken to address the challenges facing the global steel industry, including to:

Ensure that governments and government-supported institutions do not provide subsidies or other support that: 1) sustain uneconomic or consistently loss-making steel plants, 2) encourage investment in additional steelmaking capacity which would otherwise not be built; or, 3) otherwise distort competition.

Ensure that government plans, policies, directives and guidelines, whether issued or implemented by government entities or government-supported institutions, do not encourage the net expansion of steelmaking capacity and that all uneconomic or consistently loss-making steel enterprises are permitted to exit the market and close facilities.

Work together to identify and promote policies that address the detrimental impact of steel facility closures on workers and affected communities, while facilitating the closure of uneconomic or consistently loss-making facilities.

Enhance the exchange of information on: 1) capacity developments; and, 2) the formulation and implementation of the support measures and industrial policies being taken in steel.

Ensure that those enterprises in which their governments have full or partial ownership do not receive special benefits that distort competition.

Anti-Dumping Duties for Indian Welded Stainless Pressure Pipe

The Department of Commerce placed preliminary duties on imports of welded stainless pressure pipe from India yesterday.

The investigation covers welded stainless pressure pipe, which is circular welded austenitic stainless pressure pipe not greater than 14 inches in outside diameter. Welded stainless pressure pipe is used to convey fluids at high temperatures, high pressures, or both, and is used by a variety of end use industries, including petrochemicals, manufacturing, oil and gas, chemical fluid handling, and water treatment.

Commerce preliminarily determined that imports of welded stainless pressure pipe from India have been sold in the U.S. at dumping margins of 1.91% and 18.90%.

Source: MetalMiner