Malaysia mulls AD tax on Chinese bars imports

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

The government is evaluating the matter and will have 30 days to come up with a decision, Malaysian Iron & Steel Industry Federation (MISIF) president Soh Thian Lai said on Friday August 22 in response to a query from Steel First.

The petition for anti-dumping duty was submitted last month by domestic steelmakers, he said.

Imported steel bars from China into Malaysia have risen to an average volume of 35,000 tonnes per month since the start of the year, Soh noted, compared with approximately 300,000 tonnes last year, or about 25,000 tonnes a month.

Malaysia’s apparent steel consumption in 2013 was estimated to have reached some 10 million tonnes, up 12.2% year-on-year, according to figures from MISIF.

Domestic producers, however, have been unable to benefit from the rise in consumption due to intense competition from cheap imports, mainly from China.

Imported steel volumes in 2013 were up 15% year-on-year at 6.9 million tonnes, leaving roughly a third of the market for local producers. Imports from China and Japan made up 51% of total steel imports, with shipments from China surging 26% year-on-year and those from Japan up 16%.

Ann Joo Resources, a leading long steel producer in the country, was understood to be leading the effort on behalf of the domestic industry to appeal
for stringent measures against steel bar imports from China, though the company declined comment.