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Wednesday August 24, 2011

Miti says imported hot-rolled coils not threatening steel industry


PETALING JAYA: The Government has decided to terminate its investigation on the imports of hot-rolled coils (HRC) into the country after determining that the imports did not threaten the domestic steel industry.

The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) said in a statement yesterday that the decision was made on Monday following the completion of an investigation into a claim that the imports had posed serious threat to the local industry.

It said on the same day the decision to terminate the investigation was made, the notice of the preliminary determination was published in the Government gazette.

“The investigation on the imports of HRC under the Safeguards Act 2006 was initiated on May 1, 2011 upon receiving a petition for an investigation by Megasteel Sdn Bhd. The company claimed that the imports of HRC into Malaysia had increased from 2007 to 2010 and have caused serious injury to the domestic industry.

“Pursuant to section 20 of the Safeguards Act 2006, the Government has completed the investigation and has made a preliminary determination that there was an increase in imports by 35% during the period of injury determination,” said Miti.

However, it said the increase in imports had not caused or threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.

Megasteel had in June lobbied the Government for a safeguard duty of 35% for imports of certain HRC on top of the existing import tax of 25%, saying the imports of HRC had increased from 2007 to 2010 and had seriously affected its HRC production.

Following strong objections from downstream steel players, Miti initiated a safeguard investigation on the petition lodged by Megasteel.

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