Aug 31, 2022
UK to keep existing antidumping measures on cold-rolled flat steel from Russia, China

The UK government has approved the Trade Remedies Authority’s recommendation that existing antidumping measures on cold-rolled flat steel from Russia and China be kept for another five years, the government said Aug. 30.

The TRA’s recommendation that the existing measures should be kept to protect the UK’s industry was initially made in March after a review that started in April 2021.

The recommendation was then opened for comments, and the TRA made a final recommendation, which has now been accepted by the Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

“As part of its assessment, the TRA found that extending the antidumping measure for a further five years would be in the economic interest of the UK,” the government said, adding that the TRA had also found that cold-rolled flat steel from China and Russia would likely be dumped in the UK if the measure was removed, causing injury to UK producers.

The UK chose to maintain some of the EU’s trade remedy measures after Brexit and in December 2020 the then Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss chose these measures to be reviewed by an independent body to determine whether they should be varied or revoked in the UK.

According to the TRA, the UK’s cold-rolled flat steel market is 40%-50% supplied by domestic material, with imports supplying the remainder.

Cold-rolled flat steel is mostly sold through steel service centers and used in the auto industry and in domestic appliances, as well as other goods.

The TRA said that, while it had identified 50-100 downstream customers in the UK, which had a combined turnover of GBP 685 million ($801.15 million), the industry was vulnerable, due to raw material prices, the coronavirus pandemic, long-term economic trends, and energy costs.

Platts assessed the CRC ex-works Ruhr price at Eur825/mt Aug. 26, down 22.9% since the start of 2022, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Jacqueline Holman

Source: Eurometal