Local producers push curbs on imported steel

Local producers of steel roofs have stressed the need to slap safeguard duties on imported galvanized iron and steel products as these allegedly cause serious injury to the public and to the domestic industry.

Such duties would be necessary as the country continued to be a “dumping ground for substandard and subsidized exports from China,” Puyat Steel Corp. claimed in a statement issued Friday.

“By imposing safeguard duties, the local industry can stand a chance in competing with imported products, increase capacity utilization, generate more employment, lower production costs, which could result to lower domestic prices,” said Puyat Steel vice president and general manager Enrique Chuidian.

According to Puyat Steel, Chinese exports of galvanized iron sheets surged by 57 percent to 211,795 metric tons last year from 134,777 MT a year ago.

“That tonnage could have been produced by local manufacturers and provided jobs to Filipinos and increased the national gross domestic product (GDP) record. Instead, the country lost valuable foreign exchange, lost jobs and became a dumping ground for poor quality Chinese steel roofs,” the company stressed.

The manufacturing capability of the local steel industry reportedly stood at 750,000 MT a year for galvanized iron sheet production and 240,000 MT a year for pre-painted roofing materials. These capacities could cover double the estimated annual demand of 300,000 MT, based on the information from Philippine Association of Steelformers Inc. (Pasi), the company disclosed.

“Unfortunately, due to the oversupply of steel products in China and the resulting deadly surge of cheap and substandard steel products exported to the Philippines, local manufacturers have not been able to fully utilize this excess capacity, which can more than cover the country’s current and future steel roofing requirements,” Puyat Steel explained.

“By using this capacity, local manufacturers can have a more efficient process and be able to manufacture more products, generate more jobs and even lower the cost of products as a result of lower production costs,” it added.

It was last year that Puyat Steel, in behalf of local producers of galvanized iron and pre-painted sheets, filed a petition seeking safeguards against similar imported products, which were causing “serious injury” to the domestic industry. Such an injury was indicated in the local producers’ declining market share, production, sales, capacity utilization, productivity, profitability, price suppression and undercutting.

Puyat Steel explained that it submitted its application for safeguard duties “not only to make use of the excess capacity of the local steel manufacturing industry but, more importantly, protect the interest of the consuming public who have been flooded with cheap substandard products from China.”