In reference to the Chinese government's decision announced on July 22 to remove the export tax rebates for certain steel products effective as of July 15, SteelOrbis here publishes the full list of the merchandise involved.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the decision in question is in line with the Chinese government's program for the restructuring of the domestic steel industry as well as achieving the energy saving and emission reduction targets in China's eleventh five-year plan by the end of 2010. It is also aimed at influencing the increasingly severe trade battles between China and other countries.
Based on the steel export levels in the first four months of this year, around 40 percent of Chinese steel exports are expected to be impacted by the rebate adjustment. Market analysts have commented that the cancellation of the export tax rebate will cause a deterioration in the situation of domestic steel enterprises.
With HRC, plate and H-sections among the main products affected, the major HRC producers in China are Anshan Steel, Benxi Steel, Beitai Steel and Shagang Steel; Baosteel, Jinan Steel, Xinsteel and Nanjing Steel are the main local suppliers for plate, while Laiyang Steel and Maanshan Steel are the main local producers of large-sized H-section.
The sales department of major Chinese steel producer Shougang Steel Group has expressed the view that the adjustment will not exert any great impact on larger producers as they do not export large tonnages of HRC products. However, the medium and small private mills that produce CRC products of width equal to and less than 600 mm will be seriously impacted by the tax rebate cancellation.