Malaysia probes imports of steel wire rods from Indonesia

The Malaysian government is launching a preliminary investigation into the imports of steel wire rods from Indonesia, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Turkey.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry said on Thursday the probe was initiated after receiving a petition from a domestic producer that anti-dumping duty should be imposed on imports of steel wire rods.

"The government has determined that there was sufficient evidence of dumping, injury and causal link," it said in a statement.

MITI said under the Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Duties Act 1993 and its related regulations, a preliminary determination would be made within 120 days from the date of initiation.

"If the final determination is affirmative, the government may impose an anti-dumping duty at the rate that would rectify the situation," it said.

MITI said the petitioner alleged the imports from these countries were being brought into Malaysia at a price much lower than the price in the domestic market of the alleged countries.

It added the petitioner claimed this was causing material injury to the domestic industry in Malaysia. The petitioner also alleged imports from the alleged countries have increased in terms of absolute quantity.

MITI said the petitioner claimed the dumping had caused price undercutting, price suppression, price depression, low production and capacity utilization, decline in profitability, decrease in number of employees and negative return on investment. (mtq)