China probes stainless steel imports from Indonesia, EU, Japan, South Korea

BEIJING (Reuters)-
China has started a backlash.
On Monday, a dumping investigation was conducted on imports of $1 stainless steel.
3 billion, including a private Chinese factory operating overseas, has been complained of damage to local industries.
The Ministry of Commerce said the investigation will target imports of stainless steel billet and heat
Stainless steel rolled steel plates and plates from the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia have nearly tripled last year.
Previously, Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel filed a complaint with the support of the other four states
The company said state-owned steel mills, including Baosteel\'s stainless steel sector, blamed cheap imports for falling prices.
China produces and consumes about half of the world\'s stainless steel to prevent corrosion in construction, transportation and packaging.
While the complaint is for eight foreign producers, it also lists a number of Chinese companies, including the Indonesian company Qingdao stainless steel, one of the world\'s top producers, and 19 traders importing products.
In recent years, some Chinese private enterprises have opened or started construction factories in Indonesia using their rich nickel resources and lower production costs.
Analysts say a large part of the new production is already being sold in China.
According to complaints submitted by Shanxi TISCO, the rapid growth of imports has damaged the Chinese market and was released together with the Ministry of Commerce document. Almost two-
The complaint said that three stainless steel imports from China last year came from Indonesia, up from 5% in 2016 and zero in 2015.
The company said the index rose to 86% in the first quarter.
In 2017, the import price of stainless steel products fell 23% from $1,867 last year to $2,436 per ton.
\"If we allow these products to continue to enter the Chinese market at a low price and occupy more market share, sales of domestic products in China will continue to decline,\" the complaint said . \".
Peter Peng, CRU\'s senior adviser in Beijing, said the investigation was \"entirely a labor dispute between state-owned enterprises (state-
State-owned enterprises)and the fast-
Developing private factories \".
\"Because of the low cost of production, it is more competitive than Chinese products,\" he said . \".
Last year, Qingdao opened a factory in Indonesia with an annual output of 3 million tons, while Delong Holdings plans to start production in Indonesia next year. Anti-
Dumping tariffs will force factories to find new markets for their products and exacerbate global oversupply, Peng said.
The respondents included Acerinox in Spain, Outokumpu Oyj in Finland and European companies in Luxembourg --based Aperam.
Nippon Steel Co. , Ltd. , Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal and JFE Steel are all Japanese companies.
Indonesia\'s PT Jindal Stainless Steel and South Korea\'s steel maker Posco are also on the list.
\"We were very surprised (by)
This action and (will)
The situation must be carefully analyzed, \"said Matteo Rigamonti, director of special steel at the European steel industry association.
Europe exports only 22,000 tons of stainless steel billet
He said that the plates and plates rolled in 2017 fell by 50% from 2014, accounting for only a small part of China\'s total metal imports.
In 2017, China imported 703,000 tons of such products, up nearly 200% year on year, of which 98% came from the survey area.
Shanxi Taigang accounted for 25-
35% of China\'s stainless steel output.