Imports of wide-gauge HRC steel from China increase dramatically, many businesses 'cry'

thép - Ảnh 1. — Image of wide-format HRC steel often imported to Vietnam - Photo: Contributor

Many businesses are "crying" as the trend of steel imports is increasing again.

Wide HRC Steel from China: Price Down, Volume Up

According to data from the Customs Department, 2,000mm wide steel currently accounts for 86.7% of total imports in the first 5 months of the year. Cumulatively, this figure reached 430,000 tons, 12 times higher than the first 5 months of last year, mainly 2,000mm wide steel, which is not subject to anti-dumping tax.

These are mainly common steel grades such as Q235B, Q355B, SAE 1006, SS400, A36... used to produce corrugated iron, steel pipes, construction structures, similar to regular HRC steel (hot rolled steel) which is subject to anti-dumping tax.

The average import price of this type of steel in May was at 534 USD/ton, down 6% compared to the same period last year.

According to steel industry businesses, this further highlights the paradox of falling prices but a sudden increase in imports, especially in the context of the domestic steel market still under pressure from anti-dumping tax policies.

The sudden growth in the amount of wide-gauge HRC steel imported from China has made many businesses concerned about anti-dumping tax evasion and unfair competition.

Worry about the gap from the steel gauge boundary

On February 21, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade officially imposed temporary anti-dumping tax on some hot-rolled steel products from China and India, provided that the goods have a width of no more than 1,880mm.

Immediately after that, the market recorded a strong shift to importing HRC steel with a width of 1,900mm to 2,000mm, which exceeded the tax limit just enough to avoid being adjusted, but still kept the same nature, purpose of use and distribution channel.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority (Ministry of Industry and Trade), there has been a rapid increase in the amount of wide-gauge steel imported from China recently. This type of goods is not subject to investigation and anti-dumping tax according to Decision 460/QD-BCT issued in February 2025.

According to the provisions of Articles 73 and 78 of Decree 10/2018/ND-CP, and most recently Decree 86/2025/ND-CP, the act of intentionally adjusting technical specifications of goods to avoid trade defense measures is a violation of the law.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has sent a document to the General Department of Customs requesting to strengthen supervision and closely inspect the import of HRC steel products with a size larger than 1,880mm, to avoid inaccurate declarations or law evasion.

Many experts warn that if there are no timely measures to stop it, the trend of importing wide-gauge steel from China will spread to sizes larger than 2,000mm, continuing to undermine the effectiveness of the anti-dumping policy established to protect domestic production.