The UK will maintain the anti-dumping measures on plate steel from China for another five years, stated in a message on the British Government’s website.
The Government backed the Trade Remedies Authority’s (TRA) recommendation that the UK industry would suffer if the measures were lifted.
In the UK, there are two producers of thick sheet steel – Spartan UK (England)- and -Liberty Steel Dalzell (Scotland)- their annual contribution to the country’s economy is £10-20 million. As the TRA investigation showed, if anti-dumping measures are cancelled, the loss for the British industry will happen again, and local producers will hardly be able to compete in such conditions, which may lead to the closure of their enterprises.
Thick sheet steel is used in the production of construction, mining, and logging equipment, oil and gas pipelines, shipbuilding, and construction of bridges and buildings. Over 70% of the consumption of these products in the UK is in construction and engineering.
The European Commission (EC) continued the action of EU anti-dumping duties on the import of certain types of thick-rolled products from China in May. The duty rate remains at the level of 65.1%-73.7%. The relevant decision was taken after an anti-dumping investigation with the expiry of the duties introduced in 2017.
In addition, EC announced the extension of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the import of certain types of hot-rolled flat products from China for another five years. Anti-dumping duties range from 1% to 31.3%, and countervailing duties range from 4.6 to 35.9%.
