The Indonesia Anti-Dumping Committee (KADI) says it will ask the government to impose antidumping duties of up to 68 percent on imported cold rolled coil and sheet steel to stop dumping.

Steel imports from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam have seriously injured local manufacturers of similar items, KADI chairman BachrulChairi said on Friday in Jakarta.

“The dumped products have forced local producers to sell their similar products at prices below production costs. If the conditions continue, the firms will soon go into bankruptcy,” Bachrul said on Friday in Jakarta.

KADI would propose that the government impose a duty ranging between 10 percent and 68 percent on steel imports from the five nations, with the largest duty reserved for China, Indonesia’s biggest source of imported cold rolled coil and sheet steel, Bachrul said.

Imposition of the duties was needed to aid local steel producers, who comprised a strategic industry for the nation, according to Bachrul.

Under current procedure, KADI will have to submit its request to the Trade Ministry, which will forward the request, if approved, to the Finance Ministry to be implemented.

According to the rules of the World Trade Organization, nations may impose anti-dumping duties, which are levied in addition to regular import tariffs, to counter dumping, which is when an exporting manufacturer sells its products in another nation at prices less than those it charges at home or are below production costs.

Anti-dumping measures, which can be imposed for a maximum of five years, are intended to compensate a nation for losses suffered by its domestic producers.

KADI initiated an investigation into the cold rolled coil and sheet dumping claims in June 2011, after it was petitioned by Indonesia’s biggest steel maker, Krakatau Steel, which reported that it had recorded severe losses due to competition from similar imported products that were sold for lower prices in the local market.

Prices for cold rolled coil have dropped 6.3 percent to a current Rp 8,320 (86 US cents) per kilogram from the same period last year.

Observers have said that the lower sales prices for steel products, including cold and hot rolled coil, were due to excess local supply from an influx of imports.

The influx has been attributed to shifting export destinations for foreign steel producers amid weaker demand in Europe and a growing market in Indonesia for steel.

Indonesia’s cold rolled coil imports, for example, were up 44.3 percent to $88.32 million in 2011, as compared to previous years, according to the Industry Ministry.

The government has stepped up its fight against steel-dumping nations. In October, the Finance Ministry imposed anti-dumping duties for hot-rolled iron and steel plate from China (10.47 percent), Singapore (12.33 percent) and Ukraine (12.5 percent) following a complaint from KADI.

Karakatau Steel corporate communications manager WisnuKuncara declined to comment on the proposed duty.

Sat, December 22 2012, 10:24 AM

By Linda Yulisman

Source: The Jakarta Post