SeAH Group's special steel production subsidiary, SeAH Besteel and SeAH Changwon Special Steel, filed an anti-dumping (AD) investigation request regarding Chinese special steel bars to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on 4th.
Special steel bars are products formed in a bar shape made from high-carbon steel for special purposes with a high carbon content and alloying elements other than carbon.
SeAH Group believes that the indiscriminate inflow of Chinese special steel bars threatens the domestic high-value-added special steel bar industry.
Furthermore, if low-cost and low-quality materials are widely used, there is a concern that the competitiveness of the domestic parts and equipment industry will decline, which is why they decided to file an anti-dumping suit to secure material sovereignty.
According to the Korea Iron & Steel Association, the total import volume of special steel bars as of the end of last year was approximately 750,000 tons (t), of which Chinese imports accounted for about 670,000t, or 92%.
The import volume of Chinese special steel bars increased by 67% to 450,000t after being imported into Korea in 2022, but the import unit price per ton dropped by 24% from approximately 1.31 million won to around 1 million won during the same period.
SeAH Group claims that the influx of Chinese special steel bars could lead to damage in the business sectors that use these as core materials.
It is said that special steel bars are difficult to verify the quality of materials such as uniformity and cleanliness in appearance, which may lead to the spread of low-quality products in the small-scale parts and equipment industries, resulting in a decline in competitiveness.
A representative from SeAH Besteel Holdings said, "Through minimum protective measures for the special steel bar industry, which is a core material for national strategic industries such as defense, space, and aviation, we hope to ensure material sovereignty and enhance the fundamental competitiveness of Korea's materials, parts, and equipment industry."