Stuff reported that New Zealand's biggest steel maker, NZ Steel, has won its High Court bid for a review of the Government's decision to reject anti-dumping duties on imported galvanised steel coil. In the High Court in Wellington, Justice Jillian Mallon quashed a decision by the then Commerce Minister Jacqui Dean last year not to impose countervailing duties, based on a report by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. MBIE's conclusion was that any subsidies given to Chinese steelmakers were not material enough to hurt the New Zealand industry. Justice Mallon found that advice was flawed and ordered MBIE to reconsider NZ Steel's application for an investigation. She also found MBIE had not looked widely enough at whether Chinese steelmakers were receiving some form of state support, such as loans through state-owned banks. Judge Mallon said she was satisified that the advice given to the minister was flawed and it was appropriate to quash Dean's decision.

NZ Steel, a subsidiary of Australian company BlueScope Steel, has repeatedly claimed that imported Chinese and Malaysian steel is undercutting the New Zealand market. Part of its appeal revolved around MBIE's definition of the coiled steel in question, which limited the width to no bigger than 1260mm, the limit of NZ Steel's capacity. But the New Zealand company says nearly half of all Chinese imported steel was wider than that, and since the steel could be cut down into thinner pieces, wide coil was competing with narrower coil, and NZ Steel was not competing like for like.