On June 21, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation announced its determination in the antidumping case against nickel-content stainless steel plate imported from four countries, i.e., China, South Korea, Brazil and South Africa.
The ministry preliminarily determined that the weighted-average dumping margin is 29.9 percent for Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Inc. 39.1 percent for other Chinese enterprises. Meanwhile, the ministry has assigned different margins for exporters/producers as follows: South Korea-based POSCO - 4.8 percent, other companies in South Korea - 62.8 percent; Brazilian producers - 21.1 percent; South African producers - 33.3 percent.
According to the ministry's report, during the period under investigation, i.e., 2006-2008, Russia registered a sharp increase (up five times) in imports of stainless steel flat rolled products with nickel content from Brazil, South Africa, South Korea and China, with the share of imports from these countries in 2008 amounting to 49 percent of total consumption in the Russian domestic market, up from just nine percent in 2006. In addition, import prices on nickel-content flats from the countries in question were lower than local Russian prices.
"There was an ousting of Russian goods from the domestic market. In order to preserve price competition, Russian producers were forced to pursue a policy of price deterrence, which led to a drop in profitability levels and reduced their earnings against a background of growth in production and sales," reads the ministry's statement.
2006 (mt) |
2007 (mt) |
2008 (mt) |
|
Total imports of nickel-content flats |
72,832 |
46,783 |
59,016 |
Total imports of nickel-content flats from Brazil, South Africa, South Korea and China |
9,641 |
29,247 |
48,413 |
from China |
5,619 |
17,193 |
24,477 |
from mainland China |
1,677 |
10,999 |
10,018 |
from Taiwan |
3,942 |
6,194 |
14,459 |
from S. Korea |
1,121 |
1,722 |
4,880 |
from Brazil |
2,068 |
2,460 |
3,836 |
from South Africa |
833 |
7,872 |
15,220 |
Total imports of nickel-content flats from other countries |
63,191 |
17,536 |
10,603 |
from EU |
38,073 |
12,721 |
4,127 |
The ministry pointed out on its website that the leading Russian stainless steel producer Mechel Group applies high technology in the production of nickel and stainless steel plate, and is thus able to meet domestic demand.