China Extends Anti-Dumping Duties on Electrical Steel Imports

In the Chinese market, the price of Electrical Steel decreased in the last week of July. As per the market players, the stable demand outlook and upsurge in domestic production activity amidst the rise in import offers have two-folded the impact on demand for Electrical Steel. Despite the stable outlook stemming from stagnant demand expectations, a pickup in China's steel demand and geopolitical tensions were crucial factors that would decide whether scrap prices could rebound. Expectations of weak seasonal demand compounded the muted steel offtake in the summer due to high temperatures and monsoon rain in Southeast Asia. The resurgence of the coronavirus in some parts of China and the two-month lockdown in Shanghai weighed heavily on domestic and regional steel markets.

Oriented electrical or silicon steel is used in transformers and is more expensive than carbon steel. Because of the increase in import offers and to protect their respective economies, China's Ministry of Commerce has announced that it will continue to impose anti-dumping duties on grain-oriented electrical steel imports from Japan, South Korea, and the European Union for five years, beginning July 23, 2022. According to the manufacturers, the products in question are classified as HS codes 7225.11.00 and 7226.11.00. According to the officials, these products are grain-oriented electrical steels containing at least 0.6 percent silicon by weight, no more than 0.08 percent carbon, and no more than 1 percent Aluminium. Its thickness should not exceed 0.56mm, and its width should be at least ten times that of the thickness.

JFE Steel Corp, Nippon Steel, and Sumitomo Metal, among others, will pay anti-dumping duties ranging from 39 percent to 45.7 percent, according to the traders. Tariffs are 46.3 percent in the EU and 37.3 percent in Korea. According to the ministry, China will extend POSCO's (005490. KS) price undertaking agreement. Furthermore, anti-dumping measures against electrical steel from the United Kingdom have been discontinued entirely.

As per ChemAnalyst, "The domestic Electrical Steel prices in China will witness an uptick trend in near terms owing to the lack of import offers amidst limited domestic inventories." Domestic Electrical Steel prices, on the other hand, will be less than or nearly equal to the overseas quotation.