Taiwan's China Steel Corp. began collecting evidence against Russian companies on charges of dumping metal products on the Asian market, Bloomberg reports. According to the agency, China Steel is ready to take steps "against unfair trade behavior" if its Chinese customers switch to steel supplies from Russia.
After the imposition of sanctions and the actual closure of markets in the US and Europe, Russia is actively looking for buyers for rolled metal products in other parts of the world, and Asia, being closest to its borders, is becoming a strategic direction for trade.
China Steel said it is monitoring a potential influx of hot-rolled products from Russia amid reports of Russia's cut-price offers.
“Russian steel mills are seeking to enter the Asian market to sell at prices much lower than on the international market in order to get rid of excess steel products,” the company said in a statement.
Southeast Asian steel billet producers, which have become major suppliers to China in recent years, are already cutting production, according to Bloomberg.
Russian steel products are a "completely new factor that hasn't been there before" in the ferrous market, Soichiro Tsuda, chief purchasing officer at Tokyo Steel, said in an interview last week.
Japan's scrap metal prices have fallen by more than a quarter from their April high. “Scrap prices are likely to fall further or, at best, remain at current levels.”
