On January 24, the European Commission announced in a note that it would start anti-dumping investigations into cold rolled stainless steel sheets produced by the Chinese mainland, China's Taiwan and South Korea. The case will be put on file for investigation in 7 to 10 days following the note. According to the Ministry of Commerce's Bureau of Fair Trade for Import and Export, the case will cover over 100 thousand tons of Chinese-made steel exports that are worth several million US dollars. China's major steel makers such as Baosteel and Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. (TISCO) are involved.

A source with China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said that CISA would meet with all pertinent steel enterprises to discuss the matter. China hopes to play an active role in easing international trade conflicts by adjusting imports through its own policies. Frequent anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations initiated by other countries have put China in a negative position and dampened the prospects for China's 2008 steel exports, the source added.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese. (http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/mainland/channel/37558.shtml)

(China.org.cn January 25, 2008)