US aluminum industry files dumping action against Chinese foil

The antidumping margins alleged by the domestic industry range from 38% to more than 134% of the value of the imported aluminum foil. The domestic industry's countervailing duty petition alleges that Chinese producers benefit from 27 separate government subsidy programs.

The petitions were filed concurrently with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission and apply to aluminum foil that is used in a variety of consumer and industrial applications. These include household foil, flexible and semi-rigid cookware, product packaging, automotive and HVAC heat exchangers, among other common uses.

"This action is part of the industry's broad trade strategy to address Chinese overcapacity throughout the value chain," the association said in a statement. According to Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, this action -- the first time the Aluminum Association has filed unfair trade cases on behalf of its members in its nearly 85-year history -- "reflects both the intensive injury being suffered by US aluminum foil producers and also our commitment to ensuring that trade laws are enforced to create a level playing field for domestic producers."

Iran to abolish controls on iron ore

Iran is set to lift government controls on iron ore pricing in the domestic market, Tasnim News Agency reported Wednesday, citing the minister of economic affairs and finance, Ali Tayebnia.

Tayebnia was quoted as saying there was a large gap between domestic iron ore prices and international levels, which the government would address by amending the mechanism that determines prices for domestically produced ore.

Tayebnia also said pricing on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) was based on supply and demand and was, therefore, an appropriate way to discover a practical, as well a clear, price for iron ore.

The IME said in January it would launch iron ore trading for the domestic market from February, though no trades of domestic ore have been reported.

US Finalizes Duties On More Chinese Steel Imports

On February 2, the US Department of Commerce announced its final decision to impose antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) margins on imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China.

Commerce confirmed final AD margins ranging from 63.86 percent to 76.64 percent on imports of the product from Chinese producers/exporters. It also determined final CVDs of between 75.60 percent and 190.71 percent on the same imports from China.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its final determination by March 20 this year. If the ITC makes an affirmative final determination that imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China materially injure, or threaten material injury to, the domestic industry, Commerce will then issue AD and CVD orders.

The United States imported about USD302m of the products from China in 2015. US producers contend that imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China increased by 133 percent between 2013 and that year.

Commerce's latest decision builds on the large number of trade disputes currently involving the US steel sector and imports from China. Other investigations include imports of cold-rolled and hot-rolled steel flat products, non-oriented electrical steel, and corrosion-resistant steel products. In addition, Commerce has begun, since the second half of last year, to impose very substantial CVD and AD margins on Chinese exporters that are far higher than those on other countries' exporters.

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source : tax-news

Iran to impose new duty on steel imports from September

The Iranian parliament has imposed a new duty on steel imports, likely to be effective from September this year, according to the ICANA news agency, which is affiliated to the parliament.

The duty is Iranian Rial 100,000/mt (about $25/mt) of imported material and will be imposed on all steel products during Iran's sixth development plan, running from 2017 to 2023. The duty will cover billet, beam, different strips, tubes, pipes, stainless steel and scrap.

The duty will be imposed in addition to all import taxes already in place and the funds raised from it will be used for the development of the country's national railway system.

The new duty will almost certainly cause an increase in production costs for downstream industries, said Amirhosein Kaveh, secretary of the Iranian Syndicate of Steel Pipe and Profile Manufacturers. There is already considerable pressure on the Iranian pipe industry at the moment and a part of capacity is idle as a result of a slump in demand and production costs.

The Iranian government is following a highly protective policy for the upstream steel industry and this has increased production costs for downstream users, Kaveh said. The new duty would mark the third increase in import costs since January 2016. He also said that the syndicate has asked the government to cancel this new duty.

At the moment import duties are at 15% for semi-finished products; 20- 26% for flat products (excluding stainless steel) and 26% for most long products, including I-beams and H-beams.

The import duty on scrap is 4%; the "lowest possible" according to Iranian customs.

Source : Platts

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