China's Ministry of Commerce announced on July 22 the initiation of an expiry anti-dumping (AD) review investigation on stainless steel billets and hot-rolled stainless plates/coils imported from the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Indonesia.

The AD measures on these stainless products were imposed for five years from July 22, 2019. The ad valorem duties were 43% on EU and UK stainless exporters, 18.1-29% on Japanese mills, 20.2% on Indonesian mills, and 103.1% on South Korean mills, except for 23.1% on Korea's POSCO, which had made a price commitment on its stainless products exported to China.

With the AD measures set to expire, three Chinese stainless steel producers – Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., Shandong Taigang Xinhai Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., and Baosteel Desheng Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. – together lodged a request on April 15 to initiate an expiry AD review investigation on certain stainless products imported from the EU, the UK, South Korea, and Indonesia. Japanese products were not included in this investigation, Mysteel Global noted.

The Ministry of Commerce decided to start the review investigation on these stainless products on July 23 to determine if dumping and injury would continue or recur if the AD duties were terminated. A final statement is expected within 12 months. The review investigation period is set from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

The products under review involve stainless billets and stainless hot-rolled plates/coils, which are alloy steels (excluding cold-rolled ones) containing by weight no more than 1.2% carbon and at least 10.5% chromium, with or without other elements. 

The products are classified under China's HS codes: 7218.91.00, 7218.99.00, 7219.11.00, 7219.12.10, 7219.12.90, 7219.13.12, 7219.13.19, 7219.13.22, 7219.13.29, 7219.14.12, 7219.14.19, 7219.14.22, 7219.14.29, 7219.21.00, 7219.22.00, 7219.23.00, 7219.24.10, 7219.24.20, 7219.24.30, 7220.11.00, 7220.12.00.

For such stainless products originating from Japan, the anti-dumping measures will be terminated as of July 23, 2024.

Source: MySteel