Higher antidumping duties urged for Japanese steel
Higher antidumping duties urged for Japanese steel
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Association of Steel Pipe
Producers (Gapipa) has asked the Indonesian Antidumping Committee
(KADI) to impose higher antidumping duties against Japanese
welded steel pipes.
The association said here on Monday that the countervailing
duties against the Japanese welded steel pipes should be set at
81 percent.
"All the importation of Japanese welded pipes are subject to
81 percent duties," the association's vice chairman Abbas
Soeriawidjaya told the press.
The antidumping duties of between five percent and 81 percent
were imposed by the committee early this month against welded
steel pipes from Japan and Singapore.
The countervailing duties affected several Japanese welded
pipe producers, including Kawasaki, Marubeni, Nippon Steel, NKK
and Sumitomo, with antidumping charges of 12 percent, 51 percent,
5 percent, 81 percent and 54 percent respectively.
Abbas said that the antidumping duties should be set at a
single rate of 81 percent because, with the current difference in
rates, producers of welded steel pipes subject to the higher
rates could market their products through pipe companies which
are paying lower import duties.
The association also urged the government to impose a 78
percent import duty to all welded steel pipes imported from
Singapore.
The antidumping duties are only temporary and will be
effective for four months from the issuance of the decree by the
Finance Ministry on July 12.
The decree came following petitions lodged by local
steelmakers against producers from Japan, Singapore, China and
South Korea.
No duties were imposed on China and South Korean steelmakers
as KADI failed to find strong evidence to support the dumping
allegations.
Abbas, however, said the association had strong evidence to
prove the two countries' dumping practices.
"We know they have been shipping their steel through Singapore
and have sold the stuff here at a price 40 percent cheaper than
the price offered by local producers," he said.
He said the association expected KADI to continue the
investigation and impose antidumping duties of at least 40
percent on steelmakers from China and South Korea.
While Indonesia is imposing antidumping duties on foreign
companies, the country's own steelmakers, including state-owned
firm Krakatau Steel, are currently facing dumping accusations
from the United States.
Krakatau Steel president Soetrisno did not say whether or not
the company had practiced the dumping of its exports on America,
but said his firm had been cutting back shipments to America to
avoid unexpected inflictions.
Indonesia's output of steel pipes reached 287,000 metric tons
last year, higher than the 246,000 metric tons produced in 1998,
but still way below the pre-crisis record of around 400,000
metric tons.
Gapipa predicted that total output this year would reach about
300,000 metric tons. (cst)