China is trying to resolve steel trade disputes in discussions
with the United States, the European Union and the Republic of
Korea, the three major importers of China's steel, said Luo
Bingsheng, Vice Chairman and Secretary-general of the China Iron
and Steel Association (CISA).
"China has been talking to these countries since last year",
said Luo. "We have made legal preparations in case of an
anti-dumping move aimed at China."
Luo denied China has dumped its steel to foreign countries at
unfairly low prices although its steel exports grew sharply last
year.
China's steel industry generated record a 170 billion yuan in
gross profits in 2006, up 39.8 billion yuan, or 30.6 percent year
on year.
CISA statistics show that China exported 43 million tons of
steel last year, up 109.85 percent from the previous year.
More than 60 percent of China's steel exports went to the United
States, the European Union and the Republic of Korea, leading to
trade disputes between China and those countries.
So far, 11 countries have launched 27 anti-dumping or
anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese steel producers,
involving a total business volume of US$900 million.
Steel producers in the United States and the American Iron and
Steel Institute appealed to U.S. trade officials twice last year,
demanding that action be taken against China's alleged subsidies to
its steel manufacturers.
"China's steel exports rose on the back of higher demand and a
high price on the international market," Luo said. "The price of
China's steel is generally consistent with the world market."
He predicted the gross profit of China's steel industry this
year would remain at last year's level, but the growth rate of
exports may drop slightly as new taxation and industrial policies
on energy-and-resources consuming products begin to bite.
"China will export about 10 percent of its steel production this
year," said Luo.
Other steel producer countries exported on average 40 percent of
their production from 2001 to 2005, said Qi Xiangdong, CISA deputy
secretary-general.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2007)