Steel News

The Ministry of Commerce of Thailand is investigating and considering expanding anti-dumping measures on hot-rolled coils imported from China. This country's steel is said to be overrun in the Thai market, causing this country's domestic mills to struggle because of excess capacity and low efficiency.Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade may conclude the investigation by June 2024, after receiving an investigation request last year from Sahaviriya Steel, G Steel and GJ Steel, mills of hot-rolled coil, Thailand's biggest. These businesses are struggling because of widespread cheap Chinese steel, which affects the business of domestic steel mills.Information about the petition requesting Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade to investigate the case of 17 Chinese steel mills for alleged anti-dumping duty evasion. Accordingly, the alloys mixed into steel products by Chinese mills to avoid anti-dumping duties have caused quality control problems, leading to the dumping of steel products. According to Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade, Thai authorities found evidence of changing the composition of steel products and dumping by Chinese steel mills.China's hot-rolled steel coils are at risk of evading anti-dumping dutiesSoutheast Asia is China's leading steel export market, but China is currently facing widespread excess supply as the real estate and infrastructure sectors weaken. That forces China to boost exports, in which Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia are among China's main export markets; specifically, steel exports of all kinds increased by 39%. In 2023, Thailand will import 63% of its steel output, which will cause the business situation of domestic steel mills to decline, seriously affecting this country's steel industry.Cheap steel from China is the top choice for consumers. With abundant supply, Chinese steel mills offer Thai buyers cheaper prices than domestic steel mills. In 2023, the price of coated steel from China will be 39% lower than that of Thai products; Chinese steel coils will be sold at a 16% discount. Therefore, Thai steel manufacturing enterprises are facing a difficult situation due to declining revenue, which could affect the entire steel industry in this country.In 2017, Thailand applied anti-dumping measures to a series of imported steel products. This is also a wake-up call for Thai steel mills to focus on improving product quality and expanding sales channels to avoid price competition; otherwise, they will lose to high-priced imports. cheap despite government protections.However, in a public hearing before the DFT, steel importers from China in Thailand opposed the petition for an anti-dumping investigation of steel products from China. The reason that the Thailand steel industry lost its competitiveness comes from mistakes in investment decisions.China's hot-rolled coils affect domestic manufacturing enterprisesOpportunities for the Vietnam steel industryWith hot-rolled steel coils from China being investigated for anti-dumping by Thailand, a new opportunity has opened for the Vietnamese steel export market. With agility, grasping market needs, and boldness in business investment, more and more Vietnamese steel products are exported to Thailand, which is also one of Vietnam's main export markets in Southeast Asia.However, this is also a challenge for Vietnamese steel businesses, forcing businesses to be well prepared for trade defense measures. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses need to continue to improve production and business efficiency by strengthening market forecast analysis and organizing flexible production and business in accordance with market developments. In addition, the government has policies and solutions to create conditions for domestic businesses to promote exports.MRS Steel has provided you with information about Thailand's anti-dumping investigation of hot-rolled coils originating from China. However, the investigation has not ended yet. We will continuously update the latest information about the incident.