The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has initiated a safeguard investigation into imports of some coated sheet following an application by Saudi cold roller and coil coater Unicoil.

The decision to launch the probe was taken by the GCC’s Permanent Committee, which is tasked with preventing injurious practices in international trade. Products subject to investigation fall under HS codes 721070 and 721090. These are sheet with width above 600mm coated with paint, plastic, or other metal.

Unicoil has “…alleged that increased imports of the concerned product had caused serious injury to the domestic industry producing similar products,” WTO says in a statement seen by Kallanish. “The data currently available shows a situation of decreasing domestic sales, sharp decline in market share of the domestic industry, decreasing domestic production, decreasing workers' productivity, and increasing losses, in conjunction with the increase of imports.”

All parties interested in the investigation have 21 days from 9 June to make themselves known. Information must be submitted in writing to the Permanent Committee’s Technical Secretariat.

The investigation applies to all six GCC nations – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – with Saudi acting on behalf of the group as GCC president.

It is very rare for the GCC to use WTO trade defence measures to support its steel industry, as the region has traditionally been import-dependent. However, it has gradually developed its own production capacity over the last decade, while since 2014 it has seen increased imports as a result of the global supply glut.

According to Saudi’s General Authority for Statistics, imports of paint or plastic coated sheet rose 22% on-year in 2015 to 159,935 tonnes, and totalled 34,830t in the first quarter of 2016. The main supplier by far in 2015 was China with 117,681t. Imports of other metal coated sheet, however, fell -40% in 2015 to 31,136t and reached 5,226t in Q1. The main supplier in 2015 was South Korea with 9,267t.