The European Steel Tube Association (ESTA) has welcomed the European Commission’s anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain seamless round pipes from China.

The share of Chinese imports of seamless pipes in the European market rose from 3.8% in 2021 to 7% in 2022, and last year reached 12.6%, despite the fact that there are already anti-dumping measures against imports of seamless pipes. “Stainless steel pipes and seamless pipes with a diameter of more than 406.4 mm from China.”

According to industry representatives, one of the main problems in the union is European bureaucracy, where the investigation must last several months, not two years.

The representative of the organization (ESTA) indicated that so far, the investigation will take a maximum of 14 months. Final measures should be published by July 2025, and interim measures could be applied 7 months after the start of the investigation, in December 2024.

If the Commission decides to apply the import registration requested by ESTA in its complaint, the measures may be applied retrospectively four months after the complaint was submitted, in September 2024.

Earlier, the European Commission announced the launch of an anti-dumping investigation into imports of some seamless pipes from China. The investigation will cover the period from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, and last up to 14 months, with the possibility of interim charges being imposed for a period of seven to eight months.

The investigation was initiated following a complaint filed by ESTA on April 2, 2024. It alleged that imports of the products concerned had increased significantly, thereby causing material injury to the industry.