South Korea imposes 4-month provisional AD on Chinese stainless plates

According to the notice, 21.62% provisional AD duties will be imposed for four months, as recommended by South Korea's Trade Commission on January 16 "to prevent further damage to the domestic industry during the investigation."

The commission declared that it had found sufficient evidence indicating that Chinese stainless plates had negatively impacted Korea's steel sector. The final ruling is expected within six months of the preliminary determination in typical cases, Mysteel Global noted.

Responding to a petition lodged last June by local stainless plate producer DK Corp, the commission formally began a probe last September targeting Chinese plates with a thickness of no less than 4.75mm and a width of no less than 600mm. The HS codes for the products involved are 7219.21.1010, 7219.21.1090, 7219.21.9000, 7219.22.1010, 7219.22.1090, and 7219.22.9000, as Mysteel Global reported.

Seoul-headquartered DK Corp, reputedly South Korea's only producer of stainless steel plate, operates a 120,000 tonnes/year plant in Pohang on Korea's east coast producing both authentic and Duplex grade plates for use in petrochemicals and semiconductor manufacturing, in nuclear power and desalination plants, and similar facilities.

Excluded from the probe are hot-rolled coils, (unpickled) black stainless steel plates, and stainless coils or sheets with a maximum thickness of 8mm under the same HS codes. The investigation period is from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, and the injury investigation period from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024.

 In fact, this case follows another AD investigation initiated by Seoul on May 17 2024, concerning Chinese stainless steel coils, which resulted in AD duties ranging from 23.69% to 25.82% being applied on certain products, including those excluded from the current investigation. However, some Chinese enterprises secured exemptions by agreeing to pricing commitments in that case, Mysteel Global noted.

Despite the latest ruling, industry sources believe the direct impact on Chinese stainless steel exports to Korea will be limited, given that the volume under these six HS codes represents only a small portion of Korea's total imports.

According to China's General Administration of Customs (GACC), China exported 860,000 tonnes of stainless steel plates under these six HS codes in 2024, accounting for just 2.46% of its total stainless steel exports to Korea.

Nevertheless, market sentiment has been shaken by the looming tariffs, prompting a surge in exports to Korea in January. Korea Customs Service data shows that imports of stainless plates under HS codes 7219.21 and 7219.22 reached 1,750.7 tonnes in January, more than double the volume recorded in both December 2024 (814.7 tonnes) and January 2024 (875.9 tonnes).

The Koreans had argued that during January-October last year, the import volume of stainless plates from China reached 1.16 million tonnes, surpassing the total import volume in 2023 of 1.123 million tonnes, as reported.

The surge in January exports reflects mounting concerns among Chinese stainless steel traders. One trader remarked, "We are exhausted by the continuous tariff pressures worldwide. With the U.S. imposing multiple tariffs on Chinese products, we worry that other countries will follow suit."

A global mining executive echoed similar concerns, warning that escalating trade protectionism will likely lead to more trade friction, posing a significant challenge to China's stainless steel exports this year, as Mysteel Global reported.

China remains the largest overseas supplier of stainless steel to Korea, accounting for more than half of the country's total stainless steel imports in January.

Written by Adele Pan, panqinjie@mysteel.com  

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com