Posted on 14 Jul 2022
UK Steel says the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA)’s proposal to revoke the anti-dumping duty on Chinese-origin rebar actively acts against UK steel industry, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
The TRA initiated a transition review into the duty in April 2021 following the UK’s exit from the EU. In its statement of essential facts published on Wednesday, TRA says keeping the measure would not be in the UK’s economic interest, despite finding that dumping and injury to UK steel producers would likely recur if the measure were removed. It intends to recommend 30 July 2021 as the date the anti-dumping amount is revoked, Kallanish notes.
The statement of essential facts states Celsa is the only verified UK producer of the product in question – Liberty is not registered to the case but has provided information to the TRA following enquiries. It also says the one verified producer has significant market share, and that the steel safeguard measure currently provides protection to the UK producer. Moreover, the additional protection that the maintenance of this anti-dumping measure would provide is likely to be low.
The verified UK producer may not be able to meet demand and that this position will only be exacerbated by the current situation in Ukraine and the sanctions in place against Russia and Belarus, the statement adds. Also, foreseeable supply chain issues could lead to negative impacts on downstream (construction) industries.
In a strongly-worded response, UK Steel director general Gareth Stace says: “Perhaps the current heatwave has affected the thinking of the TRA, as this advice to Government certainly beggars belief.”
China accounts for 78% of global rebar production and “has the capacity to very quickly overwhelm and wipe out the UK industry”, the association observes. “At a time when Chinese domestic steel demand is weakening and Chinese producers whose costs are determined by non-market forces are increasingly turning towards the export market, the risk is particularly high. This is hugely alarming for the state of trade defence in post-Brexit Britain, when we are more than ever exposed to steelmaking overcapacity and unfair trading practices.”
The TRA’s conclusion appears to be based on one anonymous submission by a downstream user commenting on supply chain challenges and “unfounded” concerns that UK rebar supply would be restricted as a result of the Russian and Belarussian steel ban, UK Steel continues.
“The UK rebar market is amply supplied both from domestic production as well as imports, half of which are from the EU, but also a wide array of other origins including Turkey, Algeria and India, so it is truly bewildering as to how the TRA concluded that UK supply would be constrained but for dumped steel from China,” UK Steel adds.
UK Steel says it will be presenting concrete evidence to the government and TRA to demonstrate the duty revocation would be damaging to UK steel industry.
Source:Kallanish
