According to market sources, authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region may soon advance in carrying out the ongoing safeguard investigation and may come up with some suggestions or even a decision in the coming weeks. “There are a lot of discussions about it among GCC members and I think they will hold the meeting soon,” one of the local producers told SteelOrbis. Some sources expect the meeting to be held on July 21.
The case was initiated back in October 2019, aiming to protect the GCC countries from unfair import practices in the longs and flats segments. However, while the longs segment is quite well protected from outside imports by a single 10 percent duty and by the recent tax increases in Saudi Arabia, in the flats segment the situation is not clear. HRC production in the region is specifically insufficient as only one mill is able to manufacture HRC, and so a lot of material is being imported. If HRC becomes subject to safeguard tax, the costs of production of GCC region-based pipe-makers and re-rollers would be under pressure, SteelOrbis understands.