The Belarus Iron and Steel Works has rerouted its export after the European Commission introduced a five-year antidumping duty on steel rebars, BMZ Deputy Director General Andrei Kulakovsky declared.
Reinforcing bars accounted for an average of 12.3% of BMZ’s total export in 2012-2013. The introduction of the antidumping duty was no shock. During the investigation phase the works took steps to adjust its manufacturing processes and sell merchandise to different customers. Andrei Kulakovsky noted that the Belarusian side did not totally agree with results of the European Commission’s investigation.
“Every country tries to protect itself within limits of its legislation. We have withdrawn from the market but prices for rebars have increased instead of going down. This is why not everything is cut and dried,” he said.
BMZ has been selling rebars in Europe for over 25 years. The reinforcement bars were used to build and reconstruct important facilities in many cities across Europe. In the period the Belarusian steel mill established reliable partnerships with many consumers.
Andrei Kulakovsky also said that in January-June the profitability of sales totaled 6.3%. The figure was achieved thanks to the improved situation on the global steel market and the company’s efforts to reduce production costs. In H1 2017 the economic effect of the efforts to reduce the costs in accordance with methods of the State Control Committee reached $57.1 million or 11.3% of the total manufacturing costs. (BelTA/Ukrainian metal)