Russia mulls SA anti-dumping duty

Johannesburg - Russia has proposed slapping anti-dumping duties on imported nickel-containing steels from China, South Korea, Brazil and South Africa.

The Russian Industry and Trade Ministry announced the move this week after what the South African Iron and Steel Institute (SAISI) described as a long-term
investigation.

The proposed tariffs will last five years and while the ministry has not set out a clear timeline for their implementation, it is believed that they may kick in within a month.

China's anti-dumping duty is expected to be 29.9% of the customs duty while South Korean steel producers will have to pay a tariff of 62.8% and Brazilian steel exporters will have to pay 21.1%.

South African stainless steel producers are expected to pay an anti-dumping duty of 33.3%.

South African Iron and Steel Institute's information specialist Abrie Audie said on Wednesday that the Russians had been conducting a long-term investigation into
stainless steel dumping.

He said Columbus Stainless, the Middleburg producer that is now part of the Acerinox Group, had been involved in the investigations from the South African side.

According to Steel Orbis, the steel industry's e-marketplace, reported that the Russian ministry had been keeping an eye on steel imports between 2006 and 2008.

During this time, Russia registered a sharp increase (up five times) in imports of stainless steel flat rolled products with nickel content from China, South Korea, Brazil
and South Africa.

The share of imports from these countries in 2008 amounted to 49% of total consumption in the Russian domestic market, up from just 9% in 2006.

In addition, import prices on nickel-content flats from the countries in question were lower than local Russian prices.

"There was an ousting of Russian goods from the domestic market. In order to preserve price competition, Russian producers were forced to pursue a policy of price
deterrence, which led to a drop in profitability levels and reduced their earnings against a background of growth in production and sales," the Russian ministry said in
its statement.  

Russian ministry data shows that total imports of nickel-content flats amounted to 58.016 metric tonnes in 2008.

Of that amount, 24.477 tonnes came from China, 10.018 million tonnes from mainland China and 4.880 tonnes from South Korea.

Brazil's imports totalled 3.836 tonnes during that year, while imports from South Africa reached 15.220 tonnes. 

  - I-Net Bridge