China's Taiwan Region Successively Launches Investigations on Imported Carbon and Stainless Steel Products / Spain’s Tubacex to Build Stainless Steel Seamless Tube Plant in Kazakhstan / Russia’s Stainless Steel Output Drops 12.1% in Q1

China’s Taiwan Region: Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel Industries Launch Import Investigations

According to Taiwan media reports on May 4, 2025, the steel industry in Taiwan Province, China has been active recently. After China Steel Corporation and Zhonglong Corporation launched anti-dumping investigations on carbon steel hot-rolled products imported from mainland China, and have been identified by local economic departments as damaging local industries and are about to enter the preliminary ruling review stage, news has also come out in the stainless steel field that local companies plan to submit applications to the financial department of Taiwan Province, China in the near future to investigate some low-priced imported stainless steel cold-rolled products.

1. Dual drive of low-price competition and trade environment

The pressure brought by low-price competition is regarded as an important factor in the carbon steel and stainless steel industries taking import restriction measures one after another. Some analysts pointed out that these measures may be related to the current Sino-US trade frictions and the pressure brought by the US tariff policy - the United States will not only impose high tariffs on products originating from mainland China, but may also impose "secondary tariffs" on products produced by mainland Chinese companies in overseas investments. In this context, the attitudes of relevant industries in Taiwan Province of China towards products originating from mainland China or entering Taiwan Province of China through overseas investment have changed.

2. The effectiveness of measures is questionable, and the coordinated development of the industrial chain has become the key.

In the context of global tariffs, exchange rate fluctuations and intensified regional economic competition, upstream steel companies need to think about how to provide more competitive cost prices for local processing industries while restricting low-priced imported products. Otherwise, even if upstream companies have consolidated their market supply position, downstream companies may lose orders due to cost disadvantages, which will eventually damage the entire industrial chain. Faced with external market shocks, steel mills in Taiwan Province of China chose to use anti-dumping investigations as a response. Behind this move, the deep-seated problems of the local steel industry were actually exposed.

Spain’s Tubacex to Build Stainless Steel and Nickel Alloy Seamless Tube Plant in Kazakhstan

Recently, Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu met with Stefano Manfredi, general manager of Tubacex IBF Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of Spanish seamless stainless steel pipe producer Tubacex, and discussed the establishment of the first stainless steel and nickel alloy seamless pipe production plant in Central Asia.

The commissioning of the new plant is expected to reduce dependence on imported products, and will also help strengthen the country's industrial sector and create jobs, helping the country achieve its goal of developing high-tech industries.

Russia’s Stainless Steel Output Declines 12.1% in Q1 2025

On May 6, 2025, according to the report "On the Social and Economic Situation in Russia" released by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, the metallurgical production index of the Russian Federation in March 2025 was 97.9% year-on-year, higher than 97.2% in the first quarter.

In March, the output of unalloyed ingots/other primary forms and semi-finished products fell 4.4% year-on-year to 4.8 million tons, an increase of 8.6% month-on-month. Year-to-date production fell 2.6% to 13.8 million tonnes.

Production of stainless steel ingots/other primary forms and semi-finished products was 23,600 tonnes, down 15.2% year-on-year and up 6.4% from February. From January to March, production fell 12.1%.

In March, total production of other alloy steel ingots/other primary forms and semi-finished products made from them was 1.3 million tonnes, up 10.9% from February and down 5.1% year-on-year. Its production fell 10% in the first quarter of 2025.