WEST
CHESTER, Ohio, July 28,
2015 /PRNewswire/ -- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) today
announced that it has joined other major domestic steel producers
in filing antidumping and counter-vailing duty petitions against
eight countries related to cold-rolled steel.
The antidumping petitions charge that unfairly traded imports of
cold-rolled steel from Brazil,
China, India, Japan,
South Korea, Netherlands, Russia, and the United Kingdom are causing material injury to
AK Steel and the domestic steel industry. The
counter-vailing duty petitions charge that significant subsidies
have been provided to the foreign producers by the governments of
Brazil, China, India,
South Korea, and Russia.
AK Steel produces cold-rolled steel for various customer
applications, including appliances, automotive products,
containers, and construction. Cold-rolled steel
comprised approximately 20 percent of the company's shipments in
2014.
"AK Steel and the domestic industry have been facing a
surge of what we believe are unfairly dumped and subsidized imports
of cold-rolled steel coming into this country," said James L. Wainscott, Chairman, President and CEO
of AK Steel. "The negative impact to our company
and to other U.S. producers has been significant in terms of
pricing, production, sales and earnings."
AK Steel was joined in filing the petitions by Arcelor
Mittal USA LLC, Nucor Corporation,
Steel Dynamics, Inc. and United States Steel
Corporation. The petitions were filed today with
the United States Department of Commerce ("Commerce Department")
and the United States International Trade Commission ("USITC").
The eight countries covered by the antidumping petitions
and the dumping margins alleged by AK Steel and the domestic
industry are as follows:
COUNTRY
|
DUMPING MARGINS
ALLEGED
|
Brazil
|
50.07 % – 59.74
%
|
China
|
265.98 %
|
India
|
42.28 %
|
Japan
|
82.58 %
|
South Korea
|
93.32 % – 176.13
%
|
Netherlands
|
47.36 % – 136.46
%
|
Russia
|
69.12 % – 320.45
%
|
United Kingdom
|
47.64 % – 84.34
%
|
The petitions also allege that the foreign producers
benefit from numerous counter-vailable
subsidies. The petitions were filed in response
to large and increasing volumes of low-priced imports of
cold-rolled steel from the subject countries over the past three
years that have injured AK Steel and other U.S.
producers. Imports of cold-rolled steel from the
eight countries targeted by this case increased by 120% between
2012 and 2014, from 798,000 tons to 1.75 million
tons. These imports increased further in January
– May of 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014, from 548,835
to 790,361 tons. In 2014, these countries
exported more than $1.2 billion of
cold-rolled steel to the United
States.
The petitions allege that producers in the subject
countries have injured AK Steel and others in the domestic industry
by selling their products at unfairly low prices that significantly
undercut the prices of U.S. producers. As a
result, imports of cold-rolled steel have captured an increasing
share of the U.S. market at the direct expense of AK Steel and the
U.S. industry. The price declines that U.S.
producers have suffered are likely to continue if duties are not
imposed to level the playing field.
Antidumping duties are intended to offset the amount by
which a product is sold at less than fair value, or "dumped," in
the United
States. The margin of dumping is
calculated by the Commerce Department. Estimated
duties in the amount of the dumping are collected from importers at
the time of importation. Counter-vailing duties
are intended to offset unfair subsidies that are provided by
foreign governments and benefit the production of a particular
good. The USITC, an independent agency, will
determine whether the domestic industry is materially injured or
threatened with material injury by reason of the unfairly traded
imports.
Cold-rolled steel is hot-rolled steel that has been
hardened through the cold-rolling process and that may or may not
undergo further processing including annealing, hardening /
tempering, and temper rolling. While a
substantial portion of cold-rolled steel production is used "as
is," a majority in the United
States is further processed by galvanizing or
coating. Cold-rolled steel is primarily used in
appliances, automotive products, containers, and
construction.
AK Steel
AK Steel is a world leader in the production of flat-rolled carbon,
stainless and electrical steel products, primarily for automotive,
infrastructure and manufacturing, construction and electrical power
generation and distribution markets.
Headquartered in West
Chester, Ohio (Greater
Cincinnati), the company employs approximately 8,000 men and
women at eight steel plants, two coke plants and two tube
manufacturing plants across six states:
Indiana,
Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Additional information about AK
Steel is available at www.aksteel.com.
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SOURCE AK Steel