China’s anti-dumping probe on South Korean stainless steel may have more implications

SHANGHAI, Jul 20 (SMM) – China plans to launch anti-dumping investigations on South Korean stainless steel billet and hot-rolled coil imports following an application from the country’s stainless steel industry, SMM learned.

The move by China’s Ministry of Commerce, however, may mean that similar investigations could be launched against imports from Japan and other Southeast Asian countries as the industry had earlier called for a probe into Indonesian stainless steel billet and hot-rolled coil.

In the first quarter of this year, China imported 618,000 mt of stainless steel, up 216% from the same period of 2017. Among which, 72% came from Indonesia, data from China Customs showed.

If China goes ahead with anti-dumping investigations on imports from Indonesia, it is expected to help support Chinese domestic stainless steel prices and profits. Output is also therefore expected to recover.

For the Indonesian stainless steel industry, it may force the country to develop more markets other than China.

China’s annual stainless steel imports accounted for a steady 5% of its total output since 2010, indicating a relatively low import dependence. In fact, China is more competitive in the export market with cost advantage from using nickel pig iron.