Chinese market insiders have recently reported that domestic steel producers have started to collect evidence with a view to proposing an antidumping (AD) investigation to China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in relation to steel sheet piles imported from Japan and South Korea.
The insiders stated that ex-Japan hot rolled steel sheet piles are being exported to China at the price level of RMB 6,000/mt ($908/mt) CFR Chinese ports. Not including tariffs and freight charges, Japanese offers to China of steel sheet piles would be equal to RMB 4,200/mt ($635/mt), which is even lower than the ex-mill prices for the semi-finished materials for the product in question in the Tangshan market. In this context, Chinese domestic producers consider that the overseas suppliers are selling steel sheet piles in the Chinese market at below production cost.
China's Ministry of Commerce has not yet made any comment on the issue.