SHANGHAI June 8 (Reuters) - China is still considering scrapping or cutting tax rebates for flat steel products, the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.

An official from China's Ministry of Commerce confirmed that Beijing was looking into removing or reducing rebates for exports by high-energy and high-polluting sectors, the report said.

As part of the plan, the ministry is seeking to reduce export rebates on some steel products, including removing a 9 percent rebate for hot-rolled products and reducing export rebates for cold rolled products from 13 percent to 9 percent.

Earlier, Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Association had dismissed similar reports, saying China was actually aiming to restrict tolling trade for energy-intensive semi-finished steel products.

China's exports of steel products in April reached the highest monthly volume since October 2008, when the financial crisis hit global demand. Since then domestic steel output has posted repeated record highs, while exports have prompted several complaints about unfair subsidies and dumping in overseas markets.

The United States last Friday set final duties of up to above 437 percent on a steel wire product from China used in storage rack systems. China complained that Washington was using countervailing and anti-dumping duties in a protectionist fashion.