Indonesia taxes steel dumping

Taxing duties: Viet Nam Steel products being loaded at Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company for shipping. Viet Nam is among countries facing taxes on steel-dumping. — VNA/VNS Photo Trong Dat

HA NOI (VNS)— Indonesia has placed anti-dumping duties on steel imported from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Viet Nam to protect local producers.

The additional import duties, ranging from 5.9 to 55.6 per cent, will be valid for three years, according to Astera Primanto Bhakti, head of the state income policy center at the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Agency,

After Indonesia’s biggest steel maker, Krakatau Steel, claimed to have suffered considerable losses due to the introduction of cheaper imported steel into the local market, the Indonesia Anti-Dumping Committee (KADI) initiated an investigation into the situation.

While KADI recommended that the duties go as high as 74 per cent, according to the committee chairman, the highest duty imposed was 55.6 per cent, to be paid by Japanese companies Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. Taiwan-based SYNN Industrial will have the lowest fee – 5.9 per cent.

In October, the Finance Ministry imposed anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled iron and steel plates from China (10.47 per cent), Singapore (12.33 per cent) and Ukraine (12.5 per cent) following a request from KADI.

Ironically, while Vietnamese steel exporters face anti-dumping lawsuits in Thailand and Indonesia, those countries’ products – even those of poor quality – can easily penetrate Viet Nam.

Last year Viet Nam imported millions of tonnes of cheap boron steel from China. The total import turnover was worth several million US dollars, but the product faced no import duty at all.

The imported products were then sold as rolled construction steel, while authentic construction steel is subject to a 10 per cent import tariff.

Meanwhile, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have set up technical barriers to prevent imported products from dominating the market.

To deal with this situation, the Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA) is making efforts in coordination with other ASEAN countries to establish a legal standard for this commodity and call for stricter control over imported steel.

Steel production this month may reach 350,000 tonnes, while the average level should be 400,000 tonnes, according to a VSA estimate. — VNS