Russia is imposed anti-dumping duties on galvanized steel by the EU
Steel NewsDate: 03-07-2023 by: Nhu Quynh
Russian galvanized steel has created tremendous competitive pressure in the European market. This forces the EU to apply trade remedies to ensure the development of the European Union bloc.
Russia is hit with anti-dumping duties by the EU
Russia is the world's 3rd largest steel exporter, with annual steel exports reaching 28 million tons. In the Europe market, Russia is currently the second-largest supplier of steel to Europe after Turkey. The excessive export of galvanized steel to Europe is said to be the act of destroying competitors and expanding the market, which is an act of unfair competition and should be prevented. There have been lawsuits alleging that galvanized steel products are dumped from Russia on the European market, affecting the region's steel market economy.
The European Steel Industry Association (Eurofer) initiated the investigation after receiving a report from Commodity Insights. According to the lawsuit, Europe's average galvanized steel production remained stable from 2017 to 2019, but prices remained higher than those imported from Russia. However, in the period from 2019 to 2020, EU steel production decreased by 10%, mainly due to the impact of cheap Russian steel flooding the European market. This makes the EU steel market volatile, and domestic steel enterprises suffer a decline in output and revenue.
From January to December 2020, the EC opened an investigation into the imports of galvanized steel products from Russia into EU countries to determine whether these products are being dumped and whether such imports cause harm or damage to EU domestic steel producers. The products investigated fall under HS codes 7210410020, 7210410030, 7210490020, 7210490030, 7210610020, 7210610030, 7210690020, 7210690030, 7210908092, 7212300020, 7212300030, 7212506120, 7212506130, 7212506920, 7212506930, 7212509014, 7212509092, 7225920020, 7225920030, 7225990022, 7225990023, 7225990041, 7225990092, 7225990093, 7226993010, 7226993030, 7226997013, 7226997093 và 7226997094.
The EC determined that Russian galvanized steel products had a dumping margin of between 2.4% and 39.8%. The fact that galvanized steel products are imported from Russia and dumped in the EU market makes domestic manufacturers unable to sell their products, putting pressure on the national economy.
Accordingly, on August 12, 2022, the EU imposed an anti-dumping order on galvanized steel products from Russia after concluding this investigation. The EU imposed anti-dumping orders on galvanized steel products originating from Russia after the conclusion of this investigation. Russian steel mills will be subject to specific duties, as follows: Anti-dumping duties on steel from Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant amounted to 36.6%, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant to 10.3%, Severstal to 31.3%, and other Russian enterprises to 37.4%.
Vietnam - An alternative to Russia
Most EU countries import steel from Russia, EU anti-dumping duties on Russian galvanized steel disrupted the EU steel market, affecting supply in other industries.
The EU and Vietnam share the same EVFTA trade agreement, which is an opportunity for EU countries when importing steel from Vietnam. The joint trade agreement helps EU countries avoid being subject to import duties when importing galvanized steel originating from Vietnam. This helps countries in the EU import quality steel at a more reasonable cost than importing steel from other countries.
As one of the significant steel exporters in the world today, the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine directly affects global raw material resources, including the steel industry. The shortage of steel supply from Russia will cause steel prices in Europe to rise, especially as many steelmakers in Europe have had to reduce capacity because of soaring energy costs. This is also a condition for Vietnamese steel enterprises such as Hoa Sen Group, Hoa Phat Group, Nam Kim Steel... boost the export of galvanized steel to this potential market, replacing the gap left by Russia.
