China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan's biggest steelmaker, is studying buying semi-finished products from the Ukraine and Brazil again after China abolished a 13 percent tax refund on steel exports, which raised shipment costs from the world's biggest steelmaker.
China Steel has been buying steel billets and slabs from steelmakers, including Anshan Iron & Steel Group and Shagang Group, as Chinese production surged, said China Steel's marketing director Chung Yeong-huei. China canceled the refund for steel billets, slabs and other semi-finished products starting April 1.
"After China abolished the tax refund, steel shipments from Ukraine and Brazil have become cheaper," said Chung in an interview yesterday at the 3rd Far East Steel Summit in Beijing, "Of course, we should seek resources at the lowest cost."
China has been introducing measures to slow investment in the metal industry and ease demand for raw materials such as iron ore. China became a net exporter of steel billets and slabs for the first time last year, selling 6.06 million tonnes abroad last year, 2.2 million more than it imported.
Taiwan buys 31 percent of the semi-finished steel products it needs, mainly from China, to process them into higher value-added products such as steel coil, according to slides of Chung's presentation at the conference yesterday.
Taiwan produced 26.3 million tonnes of steel products, 4.4 percent more than last year, but slower than a 11 percent growth in consumption at 22 million tonnes, Chung said.
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