Australia has started a single-exporter review of antidumping duties on steel rebar from China’s Baowu Group Echeng Iron and Steel Ltd, or Echeng, the Anti-Dumping Commission said May 26.

Echeng requested the review, the commission said, adding that it “will examine whether the variable factors relevant to the taking of the antidumping measures have changed.” Echeng, a subsidiary of Chinese steel major Baowu Steel Group, has a steel production capacity of about 10 million mt/year.

A China-based steel trader said the duties have minimal impact on Australian steel markets, as they are “already saturated”, and the review could be more about “finding a way out” for Chinese mills due to oversupply in their domestic market, amid a weak property sector. Typically, China’s property sector accounts for about 26% of the country’s total steel consumption.

Echeng’s request follows the commission’s May 5 announcement that it was examining the duties to decide whether to renew them, after a request from InfraBuild (Newcastle) Pty Ltd.

The duties on Chinese rebar were first imposed April 13, 2016, and renewed March 2, 2021. The current duties of 19% will expire April 13, 2026.

The product is described as “hot-rolled deformed steel reinforcing bar, whether or not in coil form, commonly identified as rebar or debar, in various diameters up to and including 50 mm, containing indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process.”

The rebar is classified under HS codes 7213.10.00.42, 7214.20.00.47, 7227.90.10.69, 7227.90.90,01, 7227.90.90,02, 7227.90.90.04, 7228.30.10.70, 7228.30.90.40 and 7228.60.10.72.

The commission initiated a similar review May 19 for hot-rolled rods in coils of steel imported from China.

The reviews come as Australia’s steel industry is in talks with the federal government to enact safeguard measures.