Chinese Ministry of Commerce to cancel tax rebate for billet and slab
SteelOrbis heard that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) approved a proposal to cancel the export rebate tax on billets and slabs during a closed-door session. The official declaration by the Ministry is expected to come out towards mid-March. Following the official announcement, the decision will probably take effect as of April 1, 2005. It is reported that cancellation of the 13% tax rebate is taken to alleviate the congestions at the ports and also to give relief to availability in the domestic market. However, the more important impact rather than that will most probably be the increased prices in the Far East market, as a result of the drop to take place in Chinese exports, at least for a certain period of time. Once the Chinese export supply will weaken, it will inevitably have an uplifting effect on the product prices subject to the decision, in the Far East.