China will adjust tariff of steel-related products

In order to promote the transformation and upgrading and high-quality development of the steel industry, with the approval of the State Council, the Tariff Commission of the State Council issued an announcement on the 29th. Starting from August 1 this year, the export tariffs on ferro chrome and high-purity pig iron will be appropriately increased, and 40% will be implemented after adjustments. And 20% export tax rate. In addition, according to the announcement jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance of China and the State Administration of Taxation of China, starting from August 1, 2021, China will also cancel export tax rebates for 23 steel products including rails.



This is the second time China has adjusted steel tariffs this year. Prior to this, China announced the adjustment of tariffs on certain steel products starting May 1, 2021. Among them, a 0% import tax rate is imposed on pig iron, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials, ferrochrome and other products; the export tariffs of ferrosilicon, ferrochrome, high-purity pig iron and other products are appropriately increased, and the export tax rate of 25% and 20% are respectively implemented after adjustment. % Temporary export tax rate, 15% temporary export tax rate. The export tax rebates for 23 tax numbers covering major high-value-added products retained in the May adjustment will all be cancelled this time. Insiders said this is not surprising. In the first half of this year, China's steel exports increased significantly, with a total of 37.382 million tons of steel exported, a year-on-year increase of 30.2% and an increase of 8.6% compared to the same period in 2019. The accumulated imported steel products amounted to 7.349 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%. The growth of exports was significantly greater than that of imports. The data shows that steel consumption continues to grow, and steel exports have recovered significantly, driving the efficient operation of the steel industry, and driving upstream and downstream metal production industries such as ferroalloys, Si, Mn metals, Magnesium metal, and other metal production industries, resulting in huge carbon emissions pressure.

The tariff adjustment will help reduce carbon emissions, while restraining the rapid increase in the prices of raw materials such as iron ore, promoting the high-quality development of the steel industry, and improving the supply-demand relationship of the steel market. However, the prices of bulk commodities, including steel, have continued to rise this year, which has put pressure on the downstream real economy.