NEWSBREAK: China to increase export taxes on pig iron, ferro-chrome

China will raise its export tariffs on ferro-chrome and high-purity pig iron from August 1, its Ministry of Finance said on Thursday July 29.

The export tariff for pig iron – classified under Harmonized System code 72011000 – will be increased to 20% from the current 15%, while that for ferro-chrome will rise to 40% from 20%, the ministry said.

The increases are meant to promote the “transformation and high-quality development” of the Chinese steel industry, it said.

China has made a slew of tax changes for its ferrous industry this year.

It cancelled value-added tax rebates for certain steel exports from May 1 and did away with import tariffs for steelmaking raw materials such as pig iron, ferro-chrome, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials and other products.

The finance ministry on Thursday also announced the cancellation of VAT rebates for exports of certain flat steel products, including cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil.

Alice Li and Zhao Tianran in Shanghai contributed to this report.