SHANGHAI: China has not set out to encourage its steel firms to boost exports, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) said on Wednesday, amid complaints from foreign industry associations that the country was deliberately dumping surplus production on overseas markets.
It is “irresponsible” of foreign steel associations to simply blame China for the problems faced by the sector in their own countries and regions, with the whole global industry feeling the pinch as a result of overcapacity, CISA said in a statement.
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“Economic globalization has already brought together the steel sectors of several countries,” it said. “China has not encouraged steel exports, and Chinese steel producers carry out production and sales under conditions of complete market competition.”
Nine international associations, including Europe’s EUROFER and the American Iron and Steel Institute, said in a joint statement earlier this month that China remained a “non-market economy” and that the government continued to play a big role in the steel sector.
CISA accused the associations of using steel trade disputes as an excuse to question China’s status as a market economy. It also claimed that China’s steel industry was itself a victim of trade protectionism.
However, CISA has acknowledged the impact that growing Chinese steel exports have had on some countries, but said it was driven by the market and by issues of competitiveness.
Softening demand from China amid a cooling economy has dragged steel prices down by one third since the beginning of this year, forcing many domestic mills to deepen output cuts and some to close permanently.
The nation is expected by analysts to ship a record 100 million tonnes-plus of steel products abroad this year to offset shrinking domestic demand amid a slowing economy.
China will also step up efforts to solve the overcapacity and increase environment protection after it has already slashed 77.8 million tonnes of capacities since 2011.
Overseas steel mills have blamed China’s steel industry, the world’s biggest with about 1.2 billion tonnes of capacity, for exporting at unfair prices.
China’s commerce ministry earlier refuted the joint statement of the associations, saying such concerns should not be used to engage in discriminatory trade practices and that steel trade tensions should not be linked with China’s market economy status.
