Posted on 02 Aug 2024
The European Commission has notified Vietnamese authorities it has received a complaint requesting the initiation of an anti-dumping probe into hot rolled coil imports from Vietnam.
The Commission has asked Vietnam’s Mission to the EU to review a list of exporting producers that have been identified in the complaint, and provide the contact details for any relevant mills not listed in the complaint by 5 August. Should the Commission decide to initiate an investigation, it will publish a notice of initiation.
Vietnam was among the origins of HRC whose “other country” EU tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation was capped at 15% or 141,850 tonnes per quarter, effective 1 July. This followed the “other country” TRQ being exhausted immediately after opening in multiple quarters. HRC supply from Vietnam into the EU soared 181% on-year in 2023 to 1.13 million tonnes.
If the EU implements an anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese HRC, even the quota permitted to enter the EU duty free each quarter would be levied with a tariff, Kallanish notes.
The development comes in the same week as Vietnam launched an anti-dumping investigation into HRC originating from China, as well as India (see Kallanish passim). Vietnam imported 4.52 million tonnes of HRC in January-May, of which 3.3mt came from China. In 2023, this was 8.37mt and 5.37mt respectively. Low-priced Chinese supply into Asian markets has displaced steel from those markets into destinations such as the EU.
India is meanwhile reported to be mulling launching a probe into HRC imports from Vietnam and China.
Source:Kallanish
