SteelOrbis Shanghai
South
Korea is currently trying everything possible to deal with the rapid growth in Chinese H-beam imports in an attempt to counter the seriously negative effects its own producers are experiencing.
At a meeting held between the two sides on the H-beam issue a few days ago, South
Korea proposed that
China rein in its H-beam exports to below the 250,000 mt level for 2007. However,
China responded in the negative and so the meeting concluded without agreement.
The
Korea Iron and Steel Association has indicated that Chinese H-beam exports to South
Korea will have reached 800,000 mt by the end of this year, accounting for 20 percent of the market share.
China currently exports standard size H-beam to South
Korea at around $450/mt CFR, and large size at $470-480/mt CFR. Both size categories are $80-100/mt lower than the price of H-beam in the South Korean domestic market.
In addition, South
Korea's second biggest steel mill, Hyundai Steel Co., is considering making an application to the relevant Korean authorities for an anti-dumping investigation focusing on H-beam against the Chinese steel mills.
However, the prospects for such an anti-dumping investigation in the current conjuncture are reported to be unfavorable. One of the reasons is that the brisk demand in South
Korea is in need of Chinese products to make up for its current supply deficiency.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that a new
production line of Korean giant Dongkuk Steel will commence
production by the end of 2006 or in early 2007.