The Brazilian chamber of foreign trade, Camex, told SteelOrbis on Thursday it will publish a notice on Friday suspending antidumping (AD) duties on the imports of Chinese and Russian HRC for one year.
A Camex board decided on Thursday it will apply definite AD duties over the Russian and Chinese HRC for five years, however, as an “exceptional measure” it will delay enforcement of the duties for one year.
“In a future analysis, based on the monitoring of imports [of the product,] we may revert the suspension,” a note at the country’s planning ministry citing Camex said.
In September 2017, the country’s ministry of industry, foreign trade and services, MDIC, announced it extended for up to six months ongoing investigations into the imports of Chinese and Russian HRC. A notice at the country’s official gazette at the time said MDIC had initially found the existence of subsidies in the Chinese exports of HRC to Brazil.
The AD investigation followed a request from local producers Gerdau, ArcelorMittal Brazil and Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) on April 29, 2016.
This week, Brazil’s finance ministry said the duties would negatively affect the major consumers of HRC in Brazil and the industrial chain. It said it would also raise the country’s inflation rate.
The duties will likely affect Chinese steelmakers Hebei, Bengang, Baosteel, and Maanshan Iron & Steel Company, and Russia’s JSC Severstal.