Due to rapid growth of steel products export, competent Chinese department is considering imposing additional export tariff on some low-end steel products and promulgating standards for qualification of export enterprises, informed sources disclosed.

   This indicates that China's steel products market may again step into a policy sensitive period.

   The latest statistics published by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) show that China's export of steel products reached 7.16 million tons in April this year, hitting a historical monthly high; and that of steel billet, 870,000 tons, up 31.82 percent month on month. In the first four months of this year, export of steel products totaled 21.28 million tons, up 132 percent year on year; and that of steel billet, 2.65 million tons, up 902.2 percent.

   Experts attribute the rapid growth to the influence of policy changes and enterprises' beat to take the last train of export before the government publishes new policies. In April, China has successively published a series of policies to control steel export: on April 10, the Ministry of Finance and the General Administration of Taxation (GAT) announced to lower the export rebate rates for some steel products as of April 15; on April 30, the Ministry of Commerce and GAC announced to impose export license management over steel products under 83 tariff numbers.

   As the growth of steel products export was too fast to be out of the expectation of everyone in April, competent department is considering imposing additional export tariff on some low-end steel products, as well as publishing qualification standards to cut the number of export enterprises. According to the sources, the possible plan is: to impose an additional 5 percent or 10 percent export tariff on all steel products under the 83 tariff numbers or to impose additional tariff only on the wire rods and screw steel under the 83 tariff numbers.

   China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) General Secretary Luo Bingsheng also disclosed at a CISA news release that on the basis of the fifth-time lowering of export rebate rates for some steel products, competent Chinese department is studying further lowering the export rebate rate for tubing and imposing additional export tariff on wire rods and screw steel.