South Africa ITAC Report 767 — Definitive 5-Year Anti-Dumping Duties on Flat-Rolled Steel (≥600 mm width) from China (up to 47.92%), Japan (up to 57.23%) and Taiwan (24.20%)

Mechanism

ITAC initiated the investigation on 20 September 2024 (Notice No. 2730 of 2024, Government Gazette No. 51271) following a petition from ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) and Columbus Stainless Steel. The covered products are flat-rolled products of iron, non-alloy or other alloy steel with width ≥600 mm (HS 7208.10, 7208.25, 7208.26, 7208.27, 7208.36, 7208.37, 7208.38, 7208.39, 7208.51, 7208.52, 7225.30, 7225.40) — the hot-rolled coil, plate and heavy-gauge strip segments used in containers, mining equipment, pipelines, and structural-fabrication applications.

The Commission determined that dumped imports from all three origins were undercutting SACU domestic prices and causing material injury. Duties are company-specific (i.e., exporters without individual determination receive residual rates), with the maximum disclosed rates being: China up to 47.92%, Japan up to 57.23%, and Taiwan 24.20%. These are additive to the prevailing 10% MFN customs duty and the 13% steel safeguard that South Africa has maintained since 2016, taking the all-in landed-cost uplift for affected products to roughly 70–80% at the ceiling rates.

The same March 19 SARS Gazette package also implemented ITAC Report 759 on structural-steel sections from China/Thailand (see 2026-03-19-south-africa-itac-structural-steel-china-thailand-antidumping), making March 2026 the most significant single package of trade remedies ITAC has issued in the steel sector in several years.

Downstream implications

• SACU import repricing: Flat-rolled steel is an essential upstream input for local

fabricators, pipe manufacturers, and container producers — the layered duty structure creates significant import substitution pressure toward AMSA/Columbus domestic supply.

• China, Japan, Taiwan supply re-routing: Affected Asian exporters may redirect volumes

to other EM markets (Indonesia, Brazil, India) that are simultaneously implementing their own steel AD measures, reinforcing the global steel-trade fragmentation pattern.

• SAISC warning on supply gaps: The Southern African Institute of Steel Construction flagged

that the "sudden implementation" had already caused traders to postpone import orders, raising near-term supply-disruption risk for downstream fabricators dependent on imports (particularly at thickness/width specifications AMSA does not routinely produce domestically).

• Stacking effect: With the 13% safeguard, 10% MFN duty, and now up to 47.92% AD, total

landed-cost uplift for Chinese flat-rolled steel approaches 70%+ — creating acute incentive for transshipment and origin circumvention through non-covered third countries.

Open questions

• What are the company-specific duty rates by named Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese exporter?

(ITAC Report 767 full text contains the breakdown; not yet publicly posted on ITAC website.)

• Will ITAC initiate a parallel safeguard review now that AD duties are in place on top of the

existing safeguard, or will CAMESA consider whether the stacking approach is WTO-consistent?

• Are any exclusion requests expected from downstream industrial users for SACU-unavailable

specifications?