Brussels, 30/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 30 April, the European Commission opened an anti-dumping investigation targeting the imports of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars from China, on the basis of a complaint lodged in March by the European steel association Eurofer.
According to Eurofer, imports of steel reinforcement bars from China soared from zero tonnes in 2012 to 250,000 tonnes in 2014, taking a quarter of the European market - with prices clearly lower than those of EU producers.
The market for steel concrete reinforcement bars grew significantly in the UK over this period - but due to the massive increase in imports from China, the volume of European products decreased considerably, losing a third of their market share. As well as the British market, the complaint also concerns the Irish market.
The Commission judged that the evidence produced by Eurofer proved that the volume and prices of the imported product have had a negative impact on the performance and financial situation of the EU industry.
European producers of high fatigue performance steel concrete reinforcement bars include the Spanish group Celsa, Italian group Riva and world group ArcelorMittal.
The investigation is expected to last for 15 months but the Commission can decide to set provisional duties after the first 9 months if it concludes that the dumping practices took place. The definitive duties are generally in place for 5 years. (Emmanuel Hagry)