The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) has decided not to impose a preliminary safeguard duty on imports of carbon and alloy steel hot rolled coil and plate.

Imports of the products under investigation declined -11% on-year in 2014 to 438,705 tonnes, but in January-June 2015 alone totalled 425,119t. The Commission determined there was a surge in imports which is “…recent enough, sudden enough, sharp enough and significant enough,” and local industry is suffering “…serious injury.”

Nevertheless, ITAC considered the initiation of a safeguard investigation may already have had an effect of deterring imports to a certain extent. “As a result, it is expected that the serious injury suffered by the applicant will not worsen even if provisional payments are not imposed,” ITAC says in a report seen by Kallanish.

Moreover, interested parties made submissions regarding the performance of the applicant and the Commission “…want further interrogation of this matter in the lead up to the final determination.” This determination is expected at the end of October.

The products under investigation fall under HS codes 7208.10, 7208.25, 7208.26, 7208.27, 7208.36, 7208.37, 7208.38, 7208.39, 7208.40, 7208.51, 7208.52, 7208.53, 7208.54, 7208.90, 7211.14, 7211.19, 7225.30 ,7225.40, 7225.99, 7226.91 and 7226.99. The investigation was launched in April (see Kallanish 4 April).