Metal Products News
- Export licenses for 83 steel products
Date: 10-May-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
BEGINNING May 20, China will impose an export license policy on 83 steel products in a bid to slow down steel exports and reduce its trade surplus, State media said Tuesday.
The Ministry of Commerce has issued a joint notice with the customs administration listing the items affected, including cold-rolled sheets, hot-rolled steel rolls and plates, Xinhua said.
The license system only applies in general trade, according to the notice.
The country removed, as of April 15, exports tax rebates on the same 83 steel products and lowered the rate on 76 others to 5 percent after both trade surplus and steel exports surged in the first quarter.
China exported 14.1 million tons of steel products in the first quarter, up 118.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to customs figures. China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of steel. It became a net steel exporter in December 2006, the first time in more than 20 years.
The customs administration said the nation exported 5.38 million tons of steel in March, slightly lower than the record high of 5.55 million tons set last December.
The country's overall trade surplus soared to US$46.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, nearly double the US$23.3 billion in the same period last year.
Observers said curbing exports by the energy and pollution-intensive steel industry will also help the government attain its goal in energy saving and pollution control, a new policy priority for the government, Xinhua said.
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