South Korea has started an antidumping investigation into imports of steel bars imported from China, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement May 21.

The probe covers bars produced by rolling or forging alloy steels other than iron, carbon steel, and stainless steel, according to MOTIR, but excludes rebar, section steel, hollow drill bars, stainless steel and flat-rolled products.

Typically, steel bars are used to manufacture parts for automobiles and heavy construction equipment. MOTIR named three Chinese companies that will be involved in the investigation: Daye Special Steel Co. Ltd., Singapore Jinteng International Pte. Ltd., and Jiangsu Yonggang Group Co. Ltd.

A preliminary determination will be made in September, followed by a public hearing in December. Thereafter, a final determination is expected in February.

The probe resulted from a request from domestic steelmakers SeAH Besteel and SeAH Changwon Special Steel, which have steel production capacities of 1.8 million metric tons/year and 1.2 million mt/year, respectively.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed Chinese domestic Q235 billet at Yuan 3,090/mt ($454/mt) on a Tangshan ex-stock basis, down Yuan 10/mt day over day.