Chinese ferro-silicon exporters are to respond to the European Union (EU) anti-dumping investigation against them, the China Ferroalloys Industry Association has said.

 

The association has organized a consultative meeting to consider their next steps.

 

China has doubled the tax on ferro-silicon exports to 10 percent as of November 1, and the EU's anti-dumping investigation has put more pressure on the exports, analysts said.

 

Meanwhile, some European steel producers are planning to sue their Chinese peers for dumping hot rolled steel sheets if the exports continued to surge in the future, according to some overseas reports.

 

The EU has bought 1.35 million tons of hot rolled steel sheet from China in the first nine months of this year, a surge of 250 percent over last year.

 

However, Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, said his association has maintained good communication with the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries and has so far not received any information on an anti-dumping charge from the EU iron and steel enterprises.

 

From January to October, China has exported 32.84 million tons of steel, rising 91.5 percent over the same period of 2005, statistics from the country's customs showed.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)