Posted on 03 Sep 2025
South Korea's Trade Commission (KTC) has recommended a mix of price undertakings and punitive tariffs to curb dumping by Chinese hot-rolled steel plate producers, which has been hurting the domestic steel industry.
At a meeting on 28 August, KTC concluded its year-long anti-dumping investigation into Chinese-origin hot-rolled carbon and alloy steel plate, and determined that dumping margins ranged between 27.91% and 34.1%, Kallanish notes.
As a remedy, KTC has advised the Ministry of Economy and Finance to accept a five-year price undertaking from nine Chinese exporters including Baoshan Iron & Steel, Jiangsu Shagang Steel, Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron and Steel, and six other exporters. They commit to setting minimum export prices and quarterly adjustments to prevent future undercutting. Failure to honour these commitments would trigger immediate imposition of anti-dumping duties.
For exporters that declined to participate in the arrangement, including Sino Commodities International and Xiamen ITG AI Cloud Solutions, the Commission has recommended a definitive duty of 34.1% for a five-year period.
The plate under scrutiny is flat-rolled products of iron, non-alloy steel, or other alloy steel, with a thickness of 4.75mm or greater, a width of 600mm or greater, not in coil form, and not cold-rolled.
The products are widely used in shipbuilding, construction, offshore platforms, wind power equipment, pressure vessels, and pipelines. HS codes include 7208.51.1000, 7208.51.9000, 7208.52.1000, 7208.52.9000, 7225.40.9010, 7225.40.9091 and 7225.40.9099. The product is subject to an 8% base tariff, though Chinese producers have benefited from a zero tariff under the Korea-China FTA.
South Korean producers have long argued that unchecked imports of low-priced hot-rolled plate were squeezing margins and undermining capacity utilisation. With this ruling, KTC officials expect a degree of relief for domestic mills, though much will depend on enforcement of the undertakings and the response from China's exporters.
Source:Kallanish
