Vietnam Cold-Rolled Stainless Steel Under Anti-Dumping Investigation by the EU
Steel NewsDate: 19-09-2023 by: Ngan Le
On August 14, the European Commission suddenly announced an anti-dumping investigation on cold-rolled stainless steel products originating from Vietnam to resolve suspicions of trade remedy measures circumvention from Indonesia's anti-dumping.
Vietnam cold-rolled stainless steel was suddenly investigated for anti-dumping
On July 3, the European Commission received a request from the European Steel Association (EUROFER) to investigate the possibility of circumventing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on cold-rolled stainless steel from Vietnam, Taiwan, and Turkey. Accordingly, the European Commission suspects that cold-rolled stainless steel products in Vietnam actually originate from Indonesia when this country is currently imposing anti-dumping measures.
On August 14, the European Commission launched a circumvention investigation related to anti-dumping, according to which the process is expected to last for 9 months. Specifically, the involved products are on the list of flat-rolled stainless steel products, and they are classified under HS Code including 7219 31 00, 7219 32 10, 7219 32 90, 7219 33 10, 7219 33 90, 7219 34 10, 7219 34 90, 7219 35 10, 7219 35 90, 721 9 90 20, 7219 90 80, 7220 20 21, 7220 20 29, 7220 20 41, 7220 20 49, 7220 20 81, 7220 20 89, 7220 90 20 and 7220 90 80.
Because the evasion occurs outside the Union, manufacturers from Vietnam, Taiwan, and Turkey can request exemption opinions from investigation measures. Relevant parties or legal representatives must be present and submit responses within 15 days from the effective date to consult on initiating an investigation.
The reason for the anti-dumping investigation
EUROFER suspects that stainless steel producers in Indonesia have received significant support from the government in exporting hot-rolled stainless steel to several countries including Vietnam. These products re-export finished stainless steel products and cold rolled stainless steel to the European market.
There has been some evidence that stainless steel billets/sheets originating from Indonesia were assembled and finished in Vietnam, Taiwan, and Turkey before they were imported into the European market. Meanwhile, stainless steel sheet products originating from Indonesia have been subject to anti-dumping measures since November 2021.
Eurofer General Director Axel Eggert said: "Since the application of anti-subsidy and anti-dumping measures, direct import of cold-rolled stainless steel products from Indonesia has decreased significantly." According to data from MEPS International analysis, Indonesia's stainless steel import volume to the European market peaked at 38,205 tons in the fourth quarter of 2021. By the second quarter of 2022, the import volume had decreased by 74% to 9,781 tons.
Currently, Vietnam is the only country among the three countries that recorded a growth in cold-rolled stainless steel exports directly to Europe with output increasing from 11,298 tons to 18,883 tons from the first quarter 4 of 2021 until the second quarter of this year. Accordingly, the mentioned time coincided with when Indonesia began reducing steel imports into the EU market.
Opportunities for Vietnamese stainless steel manufacturers
The rapid increase in Vietnam's steel export turnover in recent years has attracted the attention of many countries, leading to a high rate of trade remedy investigations. Most of the lawsuits usually come from large and important markets such as Europe, the US, Mexico, ... these are incredibly potential markets; however, they come with many strict standards and regulations and high risk of trade remedies.
Through the above incident, it will be time for Vietnamese steel enterprises, especially domestic stainless steel manufacturers, to consider more strictly controlling the volume of exports, thereby, the Vietnamese steel enterprises can limit adverse effects on the domestic market of the exporting country. Reasonable control of the amount of exported steel with a reasonable price will reduce the anti-dumping investigation rate, protect the manufacturers' interests on both sides and stabilize the market.
