The European Union will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled flat stainless steel from China and Taiwan, according to a notice in the EU’s Official Journal.
The EU will apply tariffs of up to 25.2% for sheet, coil and strip imports from China and up to 12% for Taiwanese product, following a complaint lodged in May 2014 by the European steel producers association, Eurofer. Eurofer has said China and Taiwan shipped EUR 620M worth of cold-rolled stainless steel into the EU in 2013, some 17% of the overall market, and were guilty of dumping, or selling at unfairly low prices. Imports from the two countries more than tripled from 2010 to 2014, Eurofer said, because of overcapacity there rather than market growth in Europe.
The duties, set by the European Commission, are provisional pending the outcome of an investigation due to end in September.
Jefferies analyst Seth Rosenfeld said the tariffs would probably not end imports from China, but were high enough to have a considerable impact. He estimates planned closures should push capacity utilisation at European steelmakers to over 80% in 2017 from 64% in 2014, with a further boost from lower imports. Eurofer, welcoming the duties, said they would not limit competition, with ample supply from other non-EU countries.
