NSC closure leads to increased prices of imported steel products

Prices of imported steel products have gone up by at least 34 percent as Russian steel exporters appear to have taken advantage of the captured market left by the closure of National Steel Corp. (NSC).

In a recent meeting between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and representatives from the iron and steel industry, the NSC reported that steel prices have reacted to the closure of the country's biggest steel billet manufacturer.

NSC chief executive officer Tom Gallanis was quoted as reporting that the price of imported steel billets from Russia had gone up from $145 per metric ton to $190 per metric ton in the months that followed NSC's closure.

Although the NSC only accounted for less than 30 percent of total requirements for steel billets, industry sources said Russian exporters have taken advantage of the fact that downstream manufacturers had no choice but to import all their requirements.

Industry sources said the increase in the prices of imported Russian steel is ironic since these products were covered by an anti-dumping bond after government found initial evidence that Russia was selling steel to the Philippines at dumped prices.

The dumping bond is paid by importers and is calculated against the difference between the domestic prices and the price of imported steel billets.

Still pending before the Department of Trade and Industry is the request to extend the effectivity of the bond filed by other local billet makers but officials said they have to validate the need for continued protection.

Luis Catibayan, assistant director of DTI's Bureau of Import Services (BIS), said the request was filed by other billet makers but it might no longer be necessary because the remaining billet makers were all net importers of steel billets from Russia. --