20 April 2015
Arrium and Bluescope want dumping crackdown amid glut
Steelmakers Arrium and BlueScope Steel have urged the Abbott government to be vigorous in its crackdown on dumping and called on the senate to pass reforms to the anti-dumping system as a weakening Chinese economy raises the prospect of more cheap steel flooding oversupplied Asian markets.
A global glut of steel supply has put enormous downward pressure on steel prices, and exports from China – which accounts for around half the world's steel production – have been increasing as its economic growth slows.
"Imports out of China into south-east Asia are obviously putting pressure on steel prices and imports out of China have increased significantly over the last 12 months," Arrium chief executive Andrew Roberts said.
Mr Roberts said margins in his OneSteel business had been insulated by the falling Australian dollar, but "there is a need for urgency".
"A number of countries around the world are putting in anti-dumping duties against Chinese and south-east Asian mills," he said.