After the government imposed provisional anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese hot-rolled plates starting in April, the proportion of European products in the high-strength steel plate market has significantly increased. High-strength steel plates are products with a tensile strength of over 490 megapascals (MPa), and industries that require them, such as construction machinery, have requested exemption from the anti-dumping tariff, asserting that domestic supply is difficult.
According to the steel industry on the 19th, the import volume of three types of high-strength steel plates subject to the anti-dumping tariff last month was 3,405 tons (t), with European products from Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Spain accounting for 89.4% (3,043 t). The import volume last month increased by 49.3% compared to the same month last year. The import ratios of Chinese products last month were 1.9% and 8.8% for Japanese products.
Historically, imports of high-strength steel plates from China and Japan have accounted for about 80% of the total. Last year, during the same period, imports of European high-strength steel plates made up 23.4% of the total, while Japanese and Chinese products accounted for 75.6%.
In the industry, it is noted that domestic supply of high-strength steel plates is not easy, and with the application of anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese products, demand companies are only securing essential quantities through Europe. The government decided to impose anti-dumping tariffs of up to 38.02% on Chinese hot-rolled plates for four months starting April 24.
According to the Korea Customs Service, the average import price of Chinese high-strength steel plates before the application of anti-dumping tariffs last year was $801 per ton. During the same period, the average import price of European high-strength steel plates was $1,881 per ton. An industry insider noted, "The difference in average import prices may be large due to some special steel grades, but key demand items are more than 30% more expensive for European products than for Chinese ones."
The supply situation for plates with a tensile strength of 980 MPa and a yield strength of 960 MPa, which are used in construction machinery like concrete pump trucks or special structures, is challenging domestically. Hyundai Steel's maximum yield strength for hot-rolled plates is 690 MPa, and the tensile strength is 840 MPa. POSCO's maximum yield strength for hot-rolled plates is 885 MPa, and the tensile strength is 1,130 MPa. Yield strength is the maximum stress at which a material can return to its original state when force is applied; exceeding yield strength results in permanent deformation of the material.
Demand companies requested an exemption from tariffs on high-strength steel over 980 MPa during a public hearing with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last month. They argue that domestic steelmakers can produce high-strength steel, but meeting delivery, thickness, and quality conditions is difficult.
The government plans to listen to the opinions of domestic hot-rolled plate manufacturers based on the feedback from demand companies and conduct on-site investigations to determine whether high-strength steel plates can actually be produced. An insider in the steel industry stated, "Companies equipped with high-strength steel product lines can produce according to customer demands," and added that "issues such as improving domestic supply and tariff exemptions need to be monitored in the future."