Probe stirs tinplate makers

Thai tinplate producers are looking closely into neighbouring countries' investigations into alleged anti-dumping practices, said sources in the industry.

In the past several months, authorities in Indonesia and Malaysia have initiated investigations of anti-dumping petitions against tinplate producers in countries including China and South Korea.

The Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee (KADI) last June 24 initiated an investigation on imports of tinplate coil/sheet from South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan. This followed the request of Pelat Timah Nusantara and Latinusa, which collectively represent the Indonesian industry of the product concerned.

The sources said Thailand had also been severely hit by cheap imported steel from various countries in recent years and this unfair dumping was hurting local producers that had invested heavily in machinery and local hiring.

Sahaviriya Steel Industries has filed a petition to block unfairly traded hot-rolled steel coils. Last December, an announcement of preliminary dumping duties was made against unfairly traded zinc- and aluminium-coated steel sheet imports, while an investigation on allegedly dumped cold roll sheet is under way.

Dumping refers to the introduction of products in another country at less than its normal value, if the export price of the product exported from one country to another is less than the comparable price.

It also covers products that are not readily available in the exporting country's domestic market, so that there is no price comparison. Plus, it refers to the sale of such products to a third country at prices below per-unit cost of production.