Steel industry news

Steel industry news The State Government has launched a new social media campaign calling on the nation to unite to support our Australian steel industry. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis unveiled the Support Our Steel (#supportoursteel) campaign at South Australia’s first Steel Summit, held at the Adelaide Convention Centre. The Summit was attended by almost 200 representatives from construction and building companies, industry groups and Government along with contractors, architects, engineers, steelmakers and fabricators. They were brought together to discuss efforts to support the vital industry as well as the aims of the State Government’s new steel procurement policy and Steel Taskforce announced late last year. In response to the growing evidence of unfair trade practices and inferior imports, late last year the State Government announced a new steel policy that mandates all future State Government construction builds use steel only from Australian-standard certified fabricators and mills. The Steel Taskforce’s $4.3 million funding over four years will assist the South Australian steel fabrication sector to become compliant with Steelwork Compliance Australia requirements. An independent audit process is also being established to ensure contractors are adhering to the new mandate. Mr Koutsantonis has called upon the federal and state governments to unite with South Australia to ensure the continued success of the steel sector. In other news, the Commonwealth Government has initiated the development of a second stage of its anti-dumping reforms with the commissioning of a report on the impact of Asian steel makers in the Australian market. Announcing the beginning of the next stage of reform and the report into Asian steel makers, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne said that the Government strongly supports free trade and open markets, but free trade must also be fair trade. “In recent times I have expressed my ongoing concern about the negative impact Asian steel and aluminium markets are having on Australian manufacturers” Mr Pyne said. “Accordingly I have asked the Anti-Dumping Commissioner to prepare a report which will: identify trends in dumping and circumvention behaviour in Asian steel and aluminium markets identify existing dumping duties across all steel and aluminium products make recommendations on the most effective measures where there is evidence of these activities. “The findings of the report, expected to be delivered in early April, will inform the next tranche of anti-dumping reforms. “Input into the reforms from stakeholders will also be critical so we’ll be out seeking feedback and ideas from Australian industry groups, manufacturers and producers over the coming months,” he said. The newly-established Anti-Dumping Information Service (ADIS), within the Anti-Dumping Commission, will prepare the steel and aluminium report.