Recently, the South African International Trade Administration (ITA) issued a positive final anti-dumping duty determination for certain types of steel products from China and Thailand.
Anti-dumping duty rate for U-shaped steel, I-shaped steel, H-shaped steel, and other angle, shape and section steel originating in or imported from China is74.98%;
Anti-dumping duty rate for U-shaped steel, I-shaped steel, H-shaped steel and other section steel originating in or imported from Thailand is 20.32%.
correspondingSouth African tax numberis7216.31, 7216.32, 7216.33and7216.50the products under the item.
This figure is a significant surge from the temporary tax rate in 2024 (China 52.81%), directly hiking the cost of Chinese steel exports to South Africaby nearly 75%!
It is worth noting that South Africa, as the core of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), will apply this tariffto all five members of the union(South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland), covering the entire southern African market. And China's construction steel, which once accounted for 73% of South Africa's imports of similar steel, has intensified the survival pressure on the local industry.
The period of investigation for this anti-dumping investigation is from April 1, 2022, to March 30, 2024, and the period of investigation for the injury investigation is from April 1, 2021, to March 30, 2024.
In 2024, South Africa imposed temporary anti-dumping duties of 52.81% and 9.12% on imported structural steel from China and Thailand, respectively.
According to Business Insider Africa, the South African steel industry is facing a dilemma of domestic demand weakness and cheap imports surging, which has forced companies like ArcelorMittal South Africa to temporarily shut down some of their plants.
The new tariffs are expected to help local producers regain market share, stabilise prices and invest in production and job security. Imported steel accounts for 36% of South Africa’s total steel consumption, of which73% comes from China.
In addition, the South African International Trade Administration also issued a positive final anti-dumping duty order on iron, non-alloy steel, or other alloy steel flat products imported from the People's Republic of China, Taiwan Province of China, and Japan.
The products involved are flat rolled products of iron, non-alloy steel or alloy steel of a width of 600 mm or more, whether or not in卷 form, in the condition of hot-rolled and not further worked: including pickled and oiled, hot-rolled, non-coated, plated or coated (excluding stainless steel and grain-oriented silicon electrical steel).
Products falling under South African tax numbers 7208.10, 7208.25, 7208.26, 7208.27, 7208.36, 7208.37, 7208.38, 7208.39, 7208.51, 7208.52, 7225.30 and 7225.40.
The sunset review period for this case is from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, and the injury review period is from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2024.
Faced with South Africa's tariff barriers, Chinese steel enterprises have no "retreat" and can only take the initiative to break the deadlock in order to gain a foothold in the African market. These three trends are worth focusing on.
***, product upgrading is the core: completely abandon the low-price competition mode of low-end construction steel, increase the R&D investment of high-strength corrosion-resistant steel, green low-carbon special steel and other high-end products, and occupy the subdivided markets such as automobiles, aviation, and high-end manufacturing - these fields have high technological barriers, are less affected by anti-dumping, and are also the shortcomings of South Africa's local industry.
Second, market diversification layout: We cannot rely too much on the South African single market, we need to accelerate the deep cultivation of emerging markets in East Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, etc., while promoting localization production - setting up factories in South Africa or other members of the Southern African Customs Union to directly avoid tariff barriers and achieve "local production and local sales".
Third, take the initiative to respond to trade rules: Strengthen the anti-dumping response capability, make full use of the rules such as RCEP and China-Africa Free Trade Agreement, and safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests; at the same time, promote the establishment of China-Africa Steel Capacity Cooperation Forum, strengthen cooperation with local steel enterprises in South Africa, and achieve the transformation from "competition to win-win".