Brussels, 26/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 June, the European Commission announced the opening of an anti-dumping investigation into stainless steel cold rolled flat products from China and Taiwan, following a complaint lodged by Eurofer (the European steel association) in mid-March.
“The complainant has provided evidence that imports of the product under investigation from the countries concerned have increased overall in absolute terms and in terms of market share. The prima facie evidence provided by the complainant shows that the volume and the prices of the imported product under investigation have had, among other consequences, a negative impact on the quantities sold, the level of prices charged and the market share held by the Union industry, resulting in substantial adverse effects on the overall performance, the financial situation and the employment situation of the Union industry”, the Commission stated in its announcement in the Official Journal of the EU.
“During the last three years, the European producers of stainless steel flat rolled products carried out significant restructuring operations to reduce over-capacities, improve their performance and maintain their competitive edge in the global market. But over the same period, China has built up huge capacities that are economically unjustified. Their increased output cannot be absorbed domestically. As a result they are flooding the markets which are still unprotected like the EU”, said Eurofer on Thursday. According to Eurofer, the market share of China and Taiwan in this specific market leapt by 65% between 2010 and 2013, while consumption of these products remained “relatively stable” in Europe. Eurofer believes that customs duties of up to 20% should be imposed in order to counter the alleged Chinese and Taiwanese dumping.
The Commission has 15 months to conduct its investigation and to take out any resulting sanctions. It can impose provisional customs duties in nine months if it concludes that there is dumping. After 15 months, the member states can decide to impose definitive duties for a duration of five years. (EH)