South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has made a preliminary determination that imports of colour-coated steel from China are being dumped into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market, which comprises South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Namibia. and are causing material injury to the domestic industry.
The investigation covers flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, that are clad, plated or coated, painted, varnished or coated with plastics. The products fall under HS tariff subheadings 7210.70.20, 7210.70.30, 7210.70.40 and 7210.70.90.
The investigation was initiated following an application from ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and Safal Steel, the only producers of the product in SACU. The dumping investigation covers May 2024-April 2025, while the injury assessment covers May 2022-April 2025.
ITAC found that Chinese imports increased significantly during the injury period. Imports rose to 77,457 tons in 2025 from 41,678 tons in 2024, while their share of the SACU market increased substantially. Over the same period, the combined market share of AMSA and Safal declined.
ITAC has therefore requested the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to impose provisional anti-dumping duties for six months.
The proposed rates are 8.79pct for Zhejiang Huapu Eco-Friendly Materials, 18.83pct for Hefei HBIS New Material Technology, while several other investigated exporters have negative margins ranging from -3.90pct to -0.03pct. A 13.81pct weighted-average rate is proposed for unsampled and other Chinese exporters, subject to the exclusions specified by ITAC.