Thailand has extended anti-dumping duties on steel coils from China

The Department of Foreign Trade of Thailand (DFT) has announced the extension of anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled coil from China. The list of products subject to restrictions includes products under HS codes 7225 and 7226. This is reported by Kallanish.

The DFT initiated an anti-dumping investigation against alloy hot-rolled coil supplied to the Thai market by 17 producers from China on 16 September 2023. The agency concluded that suppliers were evading existing anti-dumping duties by adding alloys to products and shipments under other HS codes.

Restrictions in the amount of 30.91% of the customs value will apply to products under HS codes 7225.3090.022, 7225.3090.024, 7225.3090.042, 7225.3090.090, 7225.4090.034, 7225. 4090.090, 7226.9110.022, 7226.9110.023, 7226.9110.024, 7226.9110.042, 7226.9110.090, 7226.9190.022, 7226.9190.023, 7226.9190.024, 7226.9190.042. Anti-dumping duties will apply retroactively from September 2023.

The latest tariffs target Chinese hot-rolled coil with a titanium content of 0.03%. Exporters have been adding titanium to HRC to avoid the current import duties on unalloyed rolled steel to Thailand. The review of anti-dumping measures is planned to be carried out in July 2028.

More and more countries are trying to protect their domestic markets and local producers from growing Chinese exports. According to the results of January-June 2024, China increased steel exports by 24% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 53.4 million tons. At the same time, the growth of Chinese exports leads to a drop in global steel prices, and overproduction in China continues.

The last time China’s steel exports surged, it led to the creation of the Global Forum on Steel Overcapacity (GFSEC) in 2016.

In 2019, China withdrew from GFSEC, declaring that it had accomplished its mission. Since then, the country’s production capacity, which fell from 2016 to 2018, began to grow again.

The number of anti-dumping investigations worldwide increased from five in 2023 – three of which involved Chinese goods – to 14 launched in 2024 (as of early July), ten involving China. It is still low compared to 39 cases in 2015 and 2016.