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Steel industry denies rumor of export tax rise

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-31 09:26

China's steel industry should adopt a strategy of focusing on domestic demand and keeping an appropriate amount of exports, which would help rein in international steel and iron ore price hikes and abate domestic inflationary pressure, according to CISA.

China's largest steel provider, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (Baosteel), has informally told dealers it would raise prices of steel products in the third quarter.

The price of steel plate heat commercial (SPHC) would rise by 200 yuan ($28) a ton from 5,142 yuan in May and that of 1.0 steel plate cold commercial (SPCC) would rise 300 yuan from 5,996 yuan.

The hikes were inevitable as global prices had been running at a higher level than domestic ones, said Mysteel Research Institute (MRI) analyst Xu Xiangchun.

He said Baosteel was adopting prudent price hikes, considering a sharp increase might further fuel inflationary pressure, burden steel-consuming enterprises and affect the post-quake reconstruction.

China exported 16.25 million tons of rolled steel and billets in the January-April period, 32.1 percent down from a year earlier, CISA figures show.

If the trend persisted, total 2008 exports could fall 29.42 percent year-on-year to 48.75 million tons, above the government-set annual target of reducing exports by 20 million tons, said the CISA.

MRI analyst Zeng Jiesheng forecast that exports would rebound in the coming months but added that the government was unlikely to change export taxes before the fourth quarter.

Previous policies had proven effective, while frequent changes could be disruptive to producers and lead to a rush in exports as companies sought to avoid higher taxes, said Zeng.

In the first four months of 2008, exports of Chinese rolled steel to the European Union (Bulgaria and Romania excluded) dropped 55.1 percent year on year to 1.51 million tons, while those to the United States fell 33.1 percent to 997,000 tons.

During the same period, China sold 1.79 million tons of rolled steel to Vietnam, 66 percent up year on year.

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