China is soon to announce the detailed criteria required to obtain export licenses for steel products, according to a report in the Chinese press.
According to the report, China's Ministry of Commerce, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are currently working on detailed criteria which steel exporters will have to meet. These criteria are expected to be announced before the end of the current year.
Actually, the licensing system for the export of 83 steel items has already been in force since May 20, 2007. However, the current licensing system only requires the listing of exports, and does not define strict rules which have to be obeyed by the exporters. Now, however, the government is expected to announce strict criteria in order to curb steel exports.
It is rumored that under the new criteria the export licenses may be given to those companies which export a minimum of one million mt of steel products a year, or may limit mills' exports to 10 percent of their production. However, there has not been any official announcement yet.