Nov 18 – Nobody is happy with China’s steel sector, certainly not producers in the rest of the world complaining about dumping and not even the Chinese, who are battling increasing losses amid a supply glut.
But the question remains as to whether enough is being done, or is likely to be done, to resolve the situation. Record low prices, increasing calls from the rest of the world’s steelmakers for measures to halt the flow of cheap Chinese exports are adding to China’s steel woes.
And this pressure is only likely to increase in coming months, as shown by claims in Australia that not only are Chinese steel imports killing the local industry, they may end up killing locals by being of inferior quality.
The quality issue is an example of a potential new front in the war against China’s steel exports.
The Australian Steel Institute and the Welding Technology Institute of Australia said that some imports from China have serious quality defects, according to a report on Tuesday on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We’ve seen some examples of that and it’s quite dangerous,” Welding Institute chief executive Geoff Crittenden told the public broadcaster.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/column-russell-steel-china-idUSL3N13C5VS20151118#87vvMHRUhOO0Y8r2.97