The Thai government could delay the implementation of new steel standards for imports of hot dipped galvanized coil. On-site inspection and audit by Thailand Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) officials for HDG produced in China have been postponed because of travel restrictions over the Covid-19 outbreak.

Industry players including pipe producers,importers and end-users were briefed in a TISI meeting on 27 Februaryconcerning galvanized coil imports affected by the new standards. These will beconfined to products of 0.11-1.80mm thickness. The institute is aiming toenforce the new regulation effective 1 August 2020. As travel to China isnot possible at this time, the institute will review the implementation datefor the new standards in April or May and will maintain the existing standardsfor the time being.

Meanwhile on 21 February, Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot dipped galvanised steel, originating from China. The probe will target imports from 29 product lines starting with HS codes 7210491, 7210499, 7212301, and 7225929. Main petitioner, Posco Coated Steel, has alleged dumping margins of 35.67% for the targeted imports. The new TISI standard and AD probe apply to imports of HDG using cold rolled substrate. Thailand’s imports under these HS Codes from China increased 45.5% year-on-year in 2019 to 1.09 million tonnes, accounting for around two thirds of Thailand’s total imports of these products, Thai customs data show.