South African government to reduce import duty on steel by 5%
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the International Trade Administration Commission of South
Africa (ITAC) was planning to review the duties on imported steel products to help domestic steel users, who have been suffering from high prices in local market, especially from those of Ispat Iscor's since the producer holds a monopoly in domestic market and uses import parity pricing mechanism.
Currently the duty on steel products under Tariff code 72 is 5% in South
Africa. The 5% cut in the duties is expected to push Ispat Iscor to reduce its prices in the same proportion. In fact, Ispat Iscor had previously agreed to adopt a new pricing mechanism which would not hurt local steel users.