The preliminary results of South Korea’s anti-dumping actions will be issued before February next year, involving Taigang, Tsingshan, etc.

The Korean Trade Commission issued a decision in its official gazette on September 25 to start South Korea’s Anti-dumping investigations into stainless steel plates made in China, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

It is reported that the main stainless steel products involved are coils and strips with a thickness greater than 8mm. According to China Customs statistics, from January to August 2020, the total volume of China’s involved products exported to South Korea is about 274,000 tons, an increase of 9.8 %.

As can be seen from the above figure, since March 2020, the export volume of the involved products to South Korea has continued to decline, reaching only 21,000 tons in August, a cumulative decrease of 65%.

Anti-dumping investigation details

According to Article 60(3) of the “Customs Law”, the Trade Commission decided to investigate whether stainless steel flat rolled dumped products manufactured in China, Taiwan, and Indonesia have caused damage to domestic industries.

The Korean tax numbers of the products involved are 7219.12.1010, 7219.12.1090, 7219.12.9000, 7219.13.1010, 7219.13.1090, 7219.13.9000, 7219.14.1010, 7219.14.1090, 7219.14.9000, 7219.22.1010, 7219.22.1090 , 7219.22.9000, 7219.23.1010, 7219.23.1090, 7219.23.9000, 7219.24.1010, 7219.24.1090, 7219.24.9000, 7219.31.1010, 7219.31.1090, 7219.31.9000, 7219.32.1010, 7219.32.1090, 7219.32 .9000, 7219.33.1010, 7219.33.1090, 7219.33.9000, 7219.34.1010, 7219.34.1090, 7219.34.9000, 7219.35.1010, 7219.35.1090, 7219.35.9000, 7219.90.1010, 7219.90.1090, 7219.90.9000 , 7220.11.1010, 7220.11.1090, 7220.11.9000, 7220.12.1010, 7220.12.1090, 7220.12.9000, 7220.20.1010, 7220.20.1090, 7220.20.9000, 7220.90.1010, 7220.90.1090 and 7220.90.9000.

The products involved do not include stainless steel coils with a thickness greater than 8 mm and American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) S31254 and N08367 standard steel products.

Regarding the investigation objectives related to dumping, the Trade Commission selected the suppliers to be investigated in accordance with Article 6.10 of the WTO Dumping Agreement and Article 12, Paragraph 1 of the Implementing Regulations of the Customs Act, using import clearance data from the Korean Customs Administration.

The suppliers in the survey were China’s Tisco and Lisco, Indonesia’s Qingsan Steel, and Taiwan’s Yusuko and Walshin Lihua.

The start date of the investigation was September 25th when the official gazette was published, and the preliminary investigation was within 3 months of the official gazette. The main investigation is within 3 months from the date when the Trade Commission submits the preliminary investigation results, but both the preliminary investigation and the main investigation can be extended by two months.

It is reported that the final decision to impose anti-dumping duties is made by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and will be applied from the date of publication in the communiqué. The Ministry of Information Technology’s decision on the final levy of anti-dumping duties will take one to two months.

According to news from the Korea Trade Commission and the steel industry on the 29th, the Trade Commission will launch an anti-dumping investigation this month and make preliminary decisions and interim measures before February next year. After that, it plans to carry out follow-up work, such as major investigations.

Insiders believe that South Korea’s anti-dumping may grant certain cooperation exemptions to certain stainless steel pipe fittings suppliers.

Therefore, the specific impact of anti-dumping on the domestic stainless steel market depends on the final decision of anti-dumping duties.