Support the import of primary iron and steel products, and continue the orientation

The notice of the Tariff Commission of the State Council on the tariff adjustment plan for 2022 was issued on December 15. What impact will the tariff policy in the field of iron and steel products have on China's iron and steel import and export?

In terms of steel import, compared with 2021, the steel products involved in the tentative tariff table of imported goods in 2022 increased from 9 to 27, and the original 9 items in 2021 were still retained. The tariff numbers 72024900 and 72031000 maintained the policy at the beginning of May 2021; The 18 tariff codes added still maintain the tariff adjustment policy in early May. The main adjustment varieties are pig iron, recycled steel raw materials, primary iron and non alloy steel ingots, billets, stainless steel ingots and semi-finished products, alloy semi-finished products and other primary products. The tentative MFN import tariff is 2% and the tentative tax rate is zero.

"The continuation of preferential tariffs on the import of primary products reflects that the policy orientation of China's support for the import of primary steel products has not changed." Wang Guoqing, director of Lange Iron and Steel Research Center, pointed out that this can effectively reduce the import cost of primary products in the iron and steel industry and improve the import volume of related products. Promoting the import of primary products such as pig iron, steel recycled raw materials and billets will also help reduce the demand for iron ore and overseas dependence, and improve the effect of domestic resource protection.

In terms of export tariff, the steel products involved in the provisional tax rate of export commodities decreased from 18 items in 2021 to 17 items in 2022, and the ex72011000 items of high-purity pig iron in 2021 were deleted; The export tax rate of the listed products is the same as that of last year. The two ferrosilicon items with tariff No. 72022100 and 72022900 continue the policy of canceling the temporary preferential tax rate since May 1, 2021 and apply the export tariff of 25%; For the two ferrochrome items with tariff No. 72024100 and 72024900, after the provisional tax rate is increased from 15% to 20% on May 1, 2021, the 20% provisional tax rate preference will be cancelled in 2022 and the 40% export tax rate will be applied; For other products, the export tax rate of 20% ~ 40% shall be maintained.

In this regard, Wang Guoqing said that the increase of export tariffs on ferrosilicon and ferrochrome and the continuation of high export tariffs on other products reflect China's increased export restrictions on ferroalloys, recycled steel raw materials and other products. The purpose is to increase the export cost of enterprises and curb the export of relevant products, so as to meet the domestic demand for relevant primary products.

In 2021, China adjusted import and export tariffs and export tax rebates twice, and increased export tariffs on some products again in 2022. Lange Iron and Steel Research Center believes that while making overall use of domestic and foreign resources, it will promote the priority application of iron and steel industry chain products in China, ensure the supply of relevant resources in the domestic market, and then promote the healthy development of iron and steel industry chain.

"In the context of double carbon, the adjustment of tariff policy will guide the rational use of foreign resources for allocation under the condition of ensuring domestic demand, so as to promote the benign development of China's iron and steel industry chain and stabilize the operation rhythm of the domestic market." According to the analysis of China's iron and steel network, on the whole, this round of tax rate adjustment has little impact on China's iron and steel import and export. The follow-up needs to mainly monitor the changes of supply and demand at home and abroad and the price difference. In view of the fact that the domestic and foreign price difference of steel products is still obvious, our steel network believes that in order to ensure the balance between supply and demand, it is not ruled out that a new policy on steel import and export will be introduced in 2022.

In the scrap market, the import and export tax rates of scrap steel in 2022 will maintain the tax rate policy of 2021, and the MFN treatment involving the import of recycled steel raw materials will not be changed. The tentative tax rate will continue the policy of May, that is, the import tariff under the five HS codes involving import will still maintain zero tariff import; The export tariff rate of 40% shall be maintained for the most favored nation treatment of scrap export, and there is no provisional tax rate. My iron and steel network believes that under the high export tariff of 40%, it is difficult to export scrap in large quantities; For imports, the impact of zero tariff import policy on the expansion of scrap imports is also limited. With the intensification of global green and low-carbon competition, the importance of scrap resources to the iron and steel industry is self-evident. The volume of China's scrap imports still depends on the change of imported scrap standards and the rationalization of import price difference.