Taiwan: China Steel Corp. may file anti-dumping petition

23/04/2013 12:00 - 426 Views

China Steel Corp., Taiwan's biggest steelmaker, is likely to file an anti-dumping petition against low-priced imported steel plates from Japan, South Korea, mainland China and India, the company said yesterday.

The company said it will continue to collect related information and bring up the case at an “appropriate time” so as to address what it considers unfair competition.

The decision was reached at a meeting discussing the pricing of domestic sales yesterday.

Imported steel products accounted for nearly 45 percent of the domestic market in the first quarter. These imports may bring down the quality of public construction in Taiwan, the company said.

On the back of the global economic slowdown and an oversupply of steel, the company decided to lower in June the prices of its steel products — except for steel bars, wires and silicon steel sheets — by 2.08 percent. The average price per ton will be lowered by NT$442.

As the price of raw materials remains high and buyers are expected to replenish their inventories in preparation of the peak season, international steel prices may rebound after bottoming out in the second half of this year.

China Steel Corp.'s sales from January through to March declined to NT$88.46 billion, a 5.76-percent drop year-on-year.

Recently, steel prices have declined rapidly due to several regional and global economic factors that have resulted in redundant production capacity and sluggish demand.

The significant depreciation of the Japanese yen and oversupply in the mainland China market has dragged down steel prices, said the company.

The global economy has also been heralding bad news for steel products. Debt crises and government spending cuts in the eurozone contracted consumption and investment in the U.S. because of tax increases and deficit reductions which have hurt the economic recovery of developed countries.

Emerging markets have also posted less-than-expected economic growth figures. Four members of the BRICS nations and six members of the Association of South East Asian Nations may issue downward corrections in their economic forecasts.

According to the company, all these factors have reduced steel demand and limited increases in steel consumption worldwide.

April 20, 2013, 12:01 AM TWN

By Kathy Chu

Source: chinapost.com.tw