Turkey Launches Anti-Dumping Probe into Malaysia, Vietnam Steel Re-Exports

December 26, 2014 Posted by ASEAN Briefing Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Vietnam Competition Authority has announced that Turkey’s Ministry of Economy is investigating steel products imported from Malaysia and Vietnam.

The investigation will examine potential violations of antidumping rules, following a complaint by M/s Jindal Stainless Limited. Some Chinese and Taiwanese exporters have allegedly shipped products to transit through Malaysia and Vietnam before re-exporting to Turkey, evading antidumping taxes on cold rolled steel implemented by Turkey in March 2013.

Turkey, which had a trade deficit of close to US$1.1 billion with Vietnam in 2012, has seen crude steel production fall 8.6 percent year-on-year since November 2013. The period of 1 January 2013 to 31 October 2014 will be reviewed by the Ministry.

Chinese steel exports are projected to surpass 80 million tons in 2014, the highest level to date. China accounts for approximately half of global steel production. The flood of Chinese steel exports are expected by Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. MD Kiyoshi Imamura to reach 100 million tons in 2015, close to the entire production level of the world’s second-largest steel producer Japan. Imamura attributed the decline in prices to this export surge, and said it caused his company to cut prices per ton by 3,000 yen (US$26) in November 2014.

Turkey is not the only one suspicious of imports from China and Taiwan; the European Union has ordered its customs officials to register imports of stainless steel from the two jurisdictions, amid allegations that companies have dumped products at below cost prices. Taiwanese companies have already suffered as a result: profits at Taiwan’s largest steelmaker China Steel Corp. declined 71 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

It is not all bad news for the steel industry though, at least for the exchanges; the London Metals Exchange (LME) has seen trading volume increase by four percent over 2014. LME now handles over US$15 trillion annually.

If you are interested in how your exports may be affected by global antidumping rules or require other specialized research, please contact Asia Briefing about options for a customized report.

About Us

Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com.

Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.

‍

Related Reading

Developing Your Sourcing Strategy for Vietnam
In this issue of Vietnam Briefing Magazine, we outline the various sourcing models available for foreign investors – representative offices, service companies and trading companies – and discuss how to decide which structure best suits the sourcing needs of your business.

ASEAN’s Investment Horizons: Key Industries for AEC 2015
In this issue of Asia Briefing, we forecast the effects of ASEAN Economic Community on foreign investment into the region in the lead up to 2015. Following this, we highlight what is happening in some of ASEAN’s hottest industries for investment, including electronics, information and communications technology, textiles and medical devices. Lastly, we examine the growing potential of bilateral trade between ASEAN and India in light of recent historic developments in the latter.

The 2015 Asia Tax Comparator
In this issue, we compare and contrast the most relevant tax laws applicable for businesses with a presence in Asia. We analyze the different tax rates of 13 jurisdictions in the region, including India, China, Hong Kong, and the 10 member states of ASEAN, which consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.