China will remove the export tax on finished steel products including rebar and wire rod as of January 1, 2018, as announced by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on December 15. The MOF stated that this move is based on “the changes in industrial development and export conditions”.
According to the new tariffs, as of January 1, the export duty rate for billets and slab will be reduced to 10 percent from 15 percent, while the export duty rate for stainless hot rolled coil (HRC) will be reduced to five percent from 10 percent.
As recently reported by SteelOrbis, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) has announced that as of the end of October this year the composite steel price index (CSPI) for the Chinese domestic market was at 115.96 points, up 2.14 points or 1.88 percent month on month, while increasing by 35.61 points or 44.32 percent on year-on-year basis, indicating the upward movement of Chinese finished steel prices. Meanwhile, according to data issued by the Chinese customs authorities, China's finished steel export volume in the January-November period of the current year totaled 69.83 million mt, showing a significant drop of 30.7 percent year on year.
The increases in Chinese steel prices and drop in Chinese steel exports reflect the loss of competitiveness of Chinese steel products in the international market, while removing the export tax should make it easier for Chinese steel mills to sell their products overseas. In 2017, China's export tax on many steel products has been at 15 percent, with the export tax on high-value steels including stainless steel, special steel, and steel alloys at 10 percent.
New export rates for 2018 can be seen in the following table:
Sequence number |
Duty paragraph |
Trade name |
Reference export tax rate in 2018 (%) |
*Temporary tax rate in 2018 (%) |
90 |
72011000 |
Non-alloy pig iron, phosphorus content <= 0.5% |
20 |
|
91 |
72011000 |
High-purity pig iron (Mn content < 0.08%, phosphorus content < 0.03%,S content < 0.02%,and Ti content < 0.03%) |
20 |
10 |
92 |
72012000 |
Non-alloy pig iron, phosphorus content > 0.5% |
20 |
|
93 |
72015000 |
Alloy pig iron |
20 |
|
94 |
72021100 |
Ferromanganese (Carbon content > 2%) |
20 |
|
95 |
72021900 |
Ferromanganese (Carbon content <= 2%) |
20 |
|
96 |
72022100 |
Ferrosilicon (Silicon content > 55%) |
25 |
20 |
97 |
72022900 |
Ferrosilicon (Silicon content <= 55%) |
25 |
20 |
98 |
72023000 |
Ferrosiliconmanganese |
20 |
|
99 |
72024100 |
Ferrochrome (Carbon content > 4%) |
40 |
15 |
100 |
72024900 |
Ferrochrome (Carbon content <= 4%) |
40 |
15 |
101 |
72025000 |
Ferrochrome silicon |
|
10 |
102 |
72029100 |
Ferrotitanium and Ferrotitanium silicon |
|
10 |
103 |
72029290 |
Other vanadium iron |
|
10 |
104 |
72029300 |
Ferroniobium |
|
10 |
105 |
72031000 |
Ferrous products obtained by direct reduction of iron ore |
|
10 |
106 |
72039000 |
Other spongy ferrous products (Purity > 99.94%) |
|
10 |
107 |
72041000 |
Cast iron scrap |
40 |
|
108 |
72042100 |
Stainless steel scrap |
40 |
|
109 |
72042900 |
Other alloy steel scrap |
40 |
|
110 |
72043000 |
Tin steel scrap |
40 |
|
111 |
72044100 |
Metal waste and scrap from mechanical processing |
40 |
|
112 |
72044900 |
Other scrap |
40 |
|
113 |
72045000 |
Scrap iron for remelting |
40 |
|
114 |
72061000 |
Iron and non-alloy steel ingot |
|
10 |
115 |
72069000 |
Other iron and non-alloy steel in primary forms |
|
10 |
116 |
72071100 |
Rectangular section semi-finished steel, width < 2 mm thickness, carbon content < 0.25% |
|
10 |
117 |
72071200 |
Other rectangular section semi-finished steel, carbon content < 0.25% |
|
10 |
118 |
72071900 |
Other semi-finished steel with carbon content < 0.25% |
|
10 |
119 |
72072000 |
Semi-finished steel with carbon content >= 0.25% |
|
10 |
120 |
72072000 |
Cast semi-finished steel for wheels |
|
5 |
121 |
72181000 |
Stainless steel ingots and other primary products |
|
5 |
122 |
72189100 |
Rectangular section stainless semi-finished steel |
|
5 |
123 |
72189900 |
Other stainless semi-finished steel |
|
5 |
124 |
72191312 |
Chromium manganese stainless steel coils, 3 mm<=thickness < 4.75 mm, without pickling, Mn >= 5.5% |
|
5 |
125 |
72191322
|
Chromium manganese stainless steel coils, 3 mm <= thickness < 4.75 mm, with pickling, Mn >= 5.5% |
|
5 |
126 |
72191412 |
Chromium manganese stainless steel coils, thickness < 3 mm, without pickling, Mn >= 5.5% |
|
5 |
127 |
72191422 |
Chromium manganese stainless steel coils, thickness < 3 mm, with pickling, Mn >= 5.5% |
|
5 |
128 |
72241000 |
Alloy steel ingots and other primary shape alloy steel |
|
5 |
129 |
72249010 |
Rough cast forging semi-finished steel, single weight >= 10 mt |
|
5 |
130 |
72249090 |
Other alloy semi-finished steel, excluding alloy round semi-finished steel whose diameter >= 700 mm |
|
5 |
(*In 2018, the temporary rates will be implemented, while the reference rates, where given, will be implemented if the temporary rates are cancelled, unless a special announcement is made.)