Two local steelmakers have submitted a petition to the Vietnam Competition Authority saying imported cold-rolled stainless steel is being dumped on the local market.

The authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on May 6 received the petition from Posco VST Company Limited and HoaBinh Inox Joint Stock Company. The local steel firms propose an anti-dumping investigation into steel imports from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

According to Ordinance 20/2004/PL-UBTVQH11, the Minister of Industry and Trade will decide whether an anti-dumping investigation would be launched or not within 60 days after a petition is received.

This is the third time local producers have filed a petition against imported products. The two previous cases were brought against float glass and vegetable oil imports.

Most stainless steel items enjoy a zero import tariff. Only stainless steel with a circular cross-section is subject to a 10% duty, according to Circular 193 dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

In October last year, the finance ministry brought forward the amended version of Circular 157 dated November 14, 2011, with the duty on cold-rolled stainless steel imports raised from 5% to 7%. Such an adjustment was made after Posco VST, the largest cold-rolled stainless steel producer in Vietnam, had complained about poor sales.

The company had been struggling to maintain the most competitive prices for its products as imported products were levied a tariff of only 5%. Although the tariff on stainless steel was increased from 0% to 5% on January 1, 2012, the import volume in the first five months of the year only dropped 11.62% year-on-year.