China's importers of stainless steel billet and slab, as well as stainless hot-rolled plate and coil originating from the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia have been instructed to pay a deposit to the country's customs authorities from Saturday March 23 onward.
This is a preliminary measure relating to an ongoing anti-dumping probe into such imports, which is expected to come to a conclusion in July.But market participants do not expect the imposition of the deposit to have that much of an effect on supply and prices.Chinese stainless steel producers will likely make up for any shortfall in imports as a result of the imposition of the deposit, market sources said.For instance, the Tsingshan Group could increase its domestic mills' production if shipments from its plant in Indonesia decrease, an industry analyst said. Fastmarkets MB was unable to get a comment from Tsingshan on the possibility of this at the time of writing.Chinese authorities are conducting an anti-dumping probe on products classified under the following HS codes: 72189100, 72189900, 72191100, 72191200, 72191312, 72191319, 72191322, 72191329, 72191412, 72191419, 72191422, 72191429, 72192100, 72192200, 72192300, 72192410, 72192420, 72192430, 72201100 and 72201200.The...