On July 29, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council issued an announcement that starting from August 1 this year, the export tariffs on ferrochrome and high-purity pig iron will be appropriately increased, with export tariff rates of 40% and 20% respectively. .% Execute after adjustment. The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation also jointly issued an announcement to cancel export tax rebates for 23 types of steel products from August 1, 2021.
This is the second time my country has adjusted tariffs on steel products this year. Previously, in order to better guarantee the supply of steel resources and promote the high-quality development of the steel industry, my country's tariff adjustment measures included temporary zero imports of pig iron, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials, ferrochrome and other products. From May 1 this year. Appropriately increase the export tariffs on ferrosilicon, ferrochrome, high-purity pig iron and other products. After the adjustment, a 25% export tariff, a 20% temporary export tariff, and a 15% temporary export tariff will be implemented; some steel export tax rebates will be cancelled.Wang Jing, a researcher at the Lange Steel Research Center, analyzed that compared with the cancellation of export tax rebates for 146 types of steel such as hot-rolled plates and tubes in May, 23 types of oriented silicon steels, including cold-rolled steel, further abolished export tax rebates. this time. At the same time, further increase the export tariffs on ferrochrome and high-purity pig iron.
"The newly introduced tariff adjustment measures are in line with my country's steel industry's industrial positioning of'mainly meeting domestic demand, not export-oriented', and further strengthened the national policy orientation." said Chen Ziqi, deputy secretary general of the Expert Academic Committee of China International Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.
my country is the world's largest producer and consumer of steel. Since the beginning of this year, the demand for steel has grown strongly, and the production and sales of enterprises have been booming. In the first half of this year, the national output of pig iron, crude steel, and steel was 456 million tons, 563 million tons, and 698 million tons, respectively, up 4.0%, 11.8%, and 13.9% year-on-year. year. -Year; The apparent consumption of crude steel is expected to be equivalent to 537 million tons. A year-on-year increase of 10.2%.
From the perspective of steel import and export, as the situation of overseas epidemic prevention and control changes and international market demand picks up, the price of steel in international markets such as Europe and the United States has risen sharply, leading to a substantial increase in my country's steel exports. According to customs statistics, in the first half of the year, my country exported 37.38 million tons of steel products, a year-on-year increase of 30.2%; imported steel products of 7.35 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%.
"Exporting low-end steel is equivalent to exporting resources and energy in disguise. Ferrochrome is a high-energy-consuming product. The export of such products has increased domestic energy consumption and carbon emission reduction pressure." Chen Ziqi said that my country currently needs to produce ferrochrome. my country's chromium ore resources basically come from abroad. Importing high-priced chromium ore to produce high-energy-consuming ferrochromium cannot make much money from exporting. Instead, it consumes energy, leaving pollution and carbon emissions to itself. The gain is not worth the loss.
It is reported that the steel industry is the industry with the largest carbon emissions among the 31 major manufacturing industries, accounting for about 15% of the country's total emissions. To achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the steel industry must unswervingly follow the path of high-quality and reduced-quantity development. At the beginning of this year, relevant state departments clearly stated that they would reduce steel production this year.
The industry generally believes that in order to ensure the balance of domestic steel supply and demand, promote green development, encourage the import of primary steel, reduce steel exports, and support the reduction of domestic crude steel production, it is necessary to formulate corresponding tariffs. adjust. In May and June of this year, my country's steel exports fell from the peak levels in March and April, reflecting the impact of the country's cancellation of certain steel tax rebates and other related policies and measures. But because the price in overseas markets is significantly higher than the dome
Source: Economic Daily, original title "What signal does the steel tariff increase again?"
Post time: Aug-05-2021