Last week, Brussels hosted a meeting of steel and iron ore industry subgroups in the framework of industrial policy and business dialog between the representatives of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Industry and Energy (Minpromenergo) and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry.
During the meeting, the Russian side stated that the European Union's (EU) duties imposed on imports of Russian-origin seamless pipes in July last year had practically closed the EU market to Russian pipe producers. The Minpromenergo argued that "the introduction of import duty in the amount of 38.5 percent for two TMK plants and in the amount of 24.1 percent for two ChTPZ Group plants led to a decrease in pipes deliveries from 213,000 metric tons in May 2006 to 4,700 metric tons in December 2006. In total, the deliveries decreased from 262,000 metric tons in 2005 to 105,600 metric tons in 2006. In 2007, a further decline in deliveries is expected against the background of increased imports of Chinese-origin pipes to the EU (which are of the same quality but sold at a cheaper price). The review of the antidumping duties against the Russian seamless pipes imports, which the EU is to initiate in 2007, will take at least 12-15 months. Meanwhile, the damages done to the Russian seamless pipe producers will reach incredible numbers."
Taking this statement of the Russian side into consideration, the representative of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry proposed to temporarily suspend the duty in question for the period of the review.
In addition, the parties agreed to coordinate their positions on the new developments in the world steel market, in particular regarding China's influence on the world economy.