European steel makers deem Iran as the third largest threat to steel industry of Europe and are therefore seeking venues to cap Iran’s steel exports to the green continent. Accordingly, as reported by Reuters, European Steel Association (Eurofer) intends to investigate the issue of steel dumping in the Iranian industry.
What has been recently published on EU’s alarm about the rising capacity of Iran’s steel production and export is not a new story and is not only limited to our country.
Keyvan Jafari Tehrani, Head of International Affairs at IROPEX (Iron Ore Producers & Exporters Association of Iran), said “since a few months ago, the EU has begun 37 anti-dumping measures in the steel sector 15 of which pertain to concerns about China’s actions.”
“These steps are not restricted to China since the European Union will performs similar measures towards any country who might cause concerns,” added the official saying “as such, certain anti-dumping procedures have been performed in relation to dumping of steel products from Russia, Brazil, Serbia and Ukraine.”
“Analyzing output conditions and the issue of steel dumping has begun in Iran by the EU since long ago and final results of investigations are expected to be announced by mid-April,” he continued.
In response to possible actions to be taken by the EU if it confirms steel dumping in Iran, Jafari Tehrani said new import tariffs will be defined for Iranian steel products.
He pointed to UE’s reaction to imports of Chinese steel products, the official said “import tariffs for certain rebar and some products used in concrete reinforcement rose by 18.4 to 22.5 percent.”
When asked on Iran’s possible reaction if similar restrictions are imposed against exports of Iran’s steel products, IROPEX head of international affairs said “Europe Union conducts these measures in accordance with WTO rules according to which EU enjoys the right to apply anti-dumping tariffs on products of non-EU countries.”
“This will happen only if investigations reveal that products of these countries are entering EU states at prices lower than market rates to the detriment of the Europe Union industry,” he stressed.
Jafari Tehrani went on to state that “following imposition of high tariffs, China sufficed to issuing declaration and protest though is practice, they opted for alternative measures to decrease costs one being construction of a steel plant in the border of Serbia and the EU.”
One issue referred to by the European Union in the course of investigations on steel dumping in Iran was imposition of export tariffs by the government to exports of iron ore.
If the tariffs are levied in the upcoming Iranian year (to begin March 21), steel production costs will drop inside the country and will naturally provide manufacturers with the possibility to conducts exports at lower prices.
The measure, along with the eightfold increase in steel exports of the country over the past three years, has turned Iranian steel makers into a serious threat for the industry in the European Union.
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