FTW Online, 03 October 2017
By Staff Reporter
On 29 September the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) advised that the Trade and Industry Minister had approved its recommendation for the termination of the safeguard investigation into cold-rolled steel products.
The investigation was initiated on 29 July 2016, following an application lodged by the South African Iron and Steel Institute (SAISI), a non-governmental representative organisation serving the collective interests of the primary steel industry in South Africa. SAISI did so on behalf of ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa), the major producer of cold-rolled steel products in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu).
Itac issued its Report No 537 containing its preliminary determination, and invited interested parties to comment on its preliminary determination. On 29 November 2016, a public hearing was held where interested parties addressed Itac on whether a safeguard duty would be in the public interest.
Taking all the information available to it into account, including all comments received during the investigation, Itac made a final determination that there had been a surge in the volume of imports of cold-rolled steel products into the Sacu market, as a result of unforeseen circumstances, and further that the increase in imports was causing serious material injury to the Sacu industry.
However, in calculating the possible duty to be imposed, Itac determined that Amsa was not experiencing a price disadvantage when comparing Amsa’s unsuppressed selling price with the landed price of the imports.