Mexico’s longs producer Deacero will continue operating in Chile, despite suspending steel shipments to the country, following a definite ad-valorem, anti-dumping (AD) duty of 9.8 percent imposed by the South American nation.
In mid-November, Chilean media Pulso said Deacero suspended steel shipments to Chile following a decision to impose duties on the Mexican rebar.
“We suspended almost all steel shipments [to Chile.] What we’re selling locally is the inventory distributors had,” German Casa, Deacero’s exports manager for Latin America, told Chile’s Pulso at the time.
According to the executive, Deacero’s last shipment of steel to Chile was about two months ago. “With a duty like the one we have, it is actually very difficult to trade [the product],” he said. Casa said Deacero could potentially abandon the Chilean market, which would negatively affect domestic distributors that rely on Deacero to provide Mexican rebar in the country.
However, despite Casa’s claims, Deacero later clarified it would continue operating in the country.
“Deacero will continue operating in the Chilean market through its local partners, offering its wide range of products,” the company’s institutional relations and international trade director, Juan Antonio Reboulen, told Chilean news source La Tercera.
“The relationship between Chile and Mexico, Deacero and its Chilean partners, is a long-term relationship, which is well beyond a commercial dispute,” the executive said.
Reboulen labeled Chile’s recent move to transform a provisional duty into a definite one lasting for a period of one year as “unfavorable.”
According to Deacero, neither of the two parties was satisfied with the measure, since Gerdau and CAP Acero asked for higher duties. On the other hand, consumers were also “affected” by a price increase in the product of 13 percent in the short-term.