Vietnam to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese and South Korean coated steel

Vietnam plans to impose anti-dumping duties on coated steel from China and South Korea starting June 25 for about four months before final decisions are made on ADD investigations, the country's trade ministry said this week.

19 Chinese companies will be subject to ADD rates ranging from 3.45% to 34.27%, with the lowest for materials from Yieh Phui (China) at 3.45%, according to the Commerce Department. Products from other unspecified Chinese companies will be subject to an ADD rate of 34.27%. South Korean products from Dongbu Incheon Steel and Dongkuk Steel Mill will be subject to ADD rates of 4.48% and 18.08%, respectively. The duty for other South Korean producers would be 19.25%.

“I think that in the short term, the anti-dumping duty could ease the current pressure on Vietnam's domestic steel industry. This will definitely restrict exports from China and South Korea, but it also means a large potential market share for Taiwanese and Japanese manufacturers, ”said a source at the Taiwanese plant.

These duties will apply to certain alloyed, unalloyed, painted or varnished flat steel products from China and South Korea.

On June 1, 2017, the Vietnamese Ministry of Commerce launched an investigation into the imposition of duties on certain products from China and South Korea requested by four local steel producers. The proposed ADD requestors were 25.5% for imported goods from China and 19.25% for South Korea.

After the announcement of the Vietnamese ministry, the impact on the regional steel market has not yet been observed.

“We have not exported a lot of coated steel to Vietnam for a long time. I do not foresee much impact after this announcement, ”said a source from eastern China. An East China trader commented on China's coated steel exports to Vietnam this year due to tariff concerns.

“I don't think most of (South) Korean coated steel is exported to Vietnam, so there is very limited impact on (South) Korean mills,” a source in South Korea said.