【SMM Steel】South Korea's Customs Service will implement regular four-year audits for all 28 products under AD duties, including carbon steel plate and PET film, starting this month. The move aims to counter rising protectionism and oversupply. AD cases rose from 5 in 2020 to 13 in 2025. Using AI-based monitoring, the KCS will detect evasion like false declarations or third-country circumvention. Selected firms will face integrated investigations.

On March 12, 2026, the UK Trade Remedies Authority issued a notice announcing its affirmative final anti-dumping determination on tinplate (Tin Mill Products) originating in China. It determined that Shougang Group had a dumping margin of 27.85, an injury margin of 62.39, and an anti-dumping duty of 27.85; other exporters had a dumping margin of 49.98, an injury margin of 88.00, and an anti-dumping duty of 49.98. It recommended imposing anti-dumping duties on the products concerned from China for a period of five years. The UK HS codes of the products concerned are 7210 11 00 10, 7210 11 00 90, 7210 12 20 10, 7210 12 20 90, 7210 12 80 10, 7210 12 80 90, 7210 50 00 10, 7210 50 00 90, 7210 70 10 15, 7210 70 10 91, 7210 70 80 20, 7210 70 80 25, 7210 70 80 92, 7210 70 80 95, 7210 90 30 00, 7210 90 40 10, 7210 90 40 90, 7210 90 80 20, 7210 90 80 91, 7210 90 80 99, 7212 10 10 00, 7212 10 90 11, 7212 10 90 19, 7212 10 90 90, 7212 30 00 20, 7212 30 00 30, 7212 30 00 80, 7212 40 20 10, 7212 40 20 91, 7212 40 20 93, 7212 40 20 99, 7212 40 80 12, 7212 40 80 15, 7212 40 80 30, 7212 40 80 35, 7212 40 80 80, 7212 40 80 82, 7212 40 80 85, 7212 40 80 87, 7212 50 20 11, 7212 50 20 19, and 7212 50 20 90. The dumping investigation period was from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, and the injury investigation period was from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2024. On September 25, 2024, the UK Trade Remedies Authority issued a notice announcing the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation into tinplate originating in China, upon an application filed by UK enterprise TATA STEEL UKLIMITED. (Compiled and translated from the official website of the UK Trade Remedies Service) Original text: https://www.trade-remedies.service.gov.uk/public/case/AD0062/submission/034ccc6a-89ce-4ac3-bcd5-26464f3fc5be/

On March 14, 2026, the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade of Ukraine issued a notice stating that, pursuant to Resolution No. AD-598/2026/441-01 of the Commission dated March 10, 2026, it had made an affirmative final ruling in the third sunset review of the antidumping measures on steel wire ropes and cables originating in China, and decided to continue imposing antidumping duties on the products concerned for another five years at an unchanged rate of 123. The period of investigation in this case was from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025. The Ukrainian tariff codes of the products concerned were 7312 10 49 00, 7312 10 81 00, 7312 10 83 00, 7312 10 98 00, and 7312 10 65 00. The measures took effect from the date of publication of the notice. On August 17, 2007, Ukraine initiated an antidumping investigation into steel wire ropes and cables originating in China. On July 23, 2008, pursuant to Resolution No. AD-183/2008/143-48 of the Ukrainian Commission, Ukraine began imposing antidumping duties on the Chinese products concerned. Thereafter, Ukraine conducted two sunset reviews, and made affirmative rulings and extended the duty period on September 19, 2014 and May 28, 2020, respectively. On August 24, 2022, the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade of Ukraine issued a notice amending the product description of Chinese steel wire ropes and cables as determined in Resolution No. AD-183/2008/143-48 dated July 23, 2008. Upon application by a Ukrainian producer, and pursuant to Resolution No. AD-582/2025/441-01 of the Commission dated May 21, 2025, Ukraine initiated the third sunset review investigation of the antidumping measures on the Chinese products concerned. (Compiled from: Ukrainian Government Website) Source: https://ukurier.gov.ua/uk/news/povidomlennya-201/

In a 2-1 vote on March 12, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled against imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties ('AD/CVD') on graphite anode imports from China. The decision effectively kills proposed tariffs that would have surged to 169.5% for most Chinese exporters—and averts an initial petition that sought a staggering 920% duty rate. This ruling provides a highly positive economic outlook for the US battery energy storage system ('BESS') industry, sparing the sector from severe supply chain destabilization and price volatility.

Among them, the Gulf region was an important consumer market for China in the Middle East: China’s exports of aluminum plate/sheet and strip to Saudi Arabia reached 42,500 mt, and aluminum foil 58,000 mt; exports of aluminum plate/sheet and strip to the UAE reached 103,500 mt, and aluminum foil 93,800 mt; the other four countries (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman) accounted for combined exports of about 22,000 mt of aluminum plate/sheet and strip and about 11,000 mt of aluminum foil.

[SMM Platinum and Palladium Weekly Review] This week (March 9–March 13), the most-traded platinum futures contract PT2606 opened at 534 yuan/gram and closed at 541.6 yuan/gram, down 15.7 yuan/gram WoW from last week’s settlement price, a decline of 2.82%. The weekly highest price was 577.85 yuan/gram, and the weekly lowest price was 522.6 yuan/gram; the most-traded palladium futures contract PD2606 opened at 408.75 yuan/gram and closed at 408.1 yuan/gram, down 13.8 yuan/gram WoW from last week’s settlement price, down 3.27% WoW from last week’s settlement price. The weekly highest price was 430 yuan/gram, and the weekly lowest price was 397 yuan/gram. Futures trading: The most-traded platinum futures contract PT2606 recorded total trading volume of 31,227 lots during the week, with total turnover of 17.368 billion yuan and open interest of 19,989 lots; open interest decreased by 1,894 lots WoW. The most-traded palladium futures contract PD2606 recorded total trading volume of 11,077 lots during the week, with total turnover of 4.616 billion yuan and open interest of 7,612 lots; open interest increased by 11 lots WoW. At present, the US–Iran conflict remained dominated by political expectations, while the reality on the ground was still unresolved. On the political-expectations front, Trump frequently released marginal de-escalation signals to curb oil prices, saying the Iran issue was only a short-term military operation and expressing willingness to engage in dialogue with Iran; the TACO trade pulled oil prices back to around 90. On the reality front, Mojtaba, son of Khamenei, formally succeeded to power, and Iran entered the “Era of Avengers,” beginning to threaten the Strait of Hormuz; its foreign minister said the new leadership would refuse to negotiate with Trump. If the US–Iran conflict continues to escalate, it will push up oil prices and trigger concerns over imported inflation in the US, thereby delaying the Fed’s progress on interest rate cuts. On tariffs, after reciprocal tariff was overturned by the Supreme Court, the Trump administration will seek a more solid legal basis to rebuild the tariff framework. The risk of re-inflation remained relatively high, and disputes over new tax rates and tax rebates lifted policy uncertainty to some extent. In the short term, Trump filled the tariff-rate vacuum through the 122 temporary tariff; in the medium and long-term, he may maintain a high-tariff framework via 232 and 301. In addition, the massive tax rebate pressure brought about after reciprocal tariff was ruled illegal will further increase the US fiscal burden, thereby reinforcing the logic of a weaker US dollar and providing support to precious metals overall. Supply side, NERSA announced it had formally approved Eskom’s electricity price adjustment plan for the next two years: electricity prices will be raised by 8.76% in April this year and raised again by 8.83% in April 2027. As South Africa’s PGM mining is highly dependent on electricity, rising electricity prices will continue to lift the cost center for platinum and palladium. The US Department of Commerce issued an announcement, making an affirmative preliminary anti-dumping determination on unwrought palladium imported from Russia, preliminarily determining the dumping margin for all Russian exporters/producers at 132.83%. In terms of valuation, watch changes in the US dollar index, which involve the relative strength of currencies such as the euro and the yen. Pay attention to details on the new administrator announced by the LME. Pay attention to the March 19 FOMC meeting, changes in economic data, and the impact of Wosh’s remarks on monetary policy expectations. The precious metals sector mainly benefited from the policy and political-environment tug-of-war during the US Fed’s midterm-election time window. From a medium- and long-term perspective, the foundation for a bull market in platinum and palladium remained intact. In the short term, be alert to the risk of a phased adjustment driven by a delay in expectations for an interest rate cut; pullbacks should be viewed as medium- and long-term opportunities to add long positions. Amid high fluctuations in platinum and palladium, pay attention to position sizing. As domestic and overseas markets are not continuous, the opening price of platinum and palladium often references the overseas night session; investors should monitor trading prices in international markets and be wary of opening gaps. Spot market, this week most traders holding cargo actively quoted prices. Some traders reported that supply was currently relatively ample while the market was relatively sluggish. Most downstream clients had sufficient inventory and mainly stayed on the sidelines, with only some downstream buyers making small, negotiated purchases to meet order demand. Along with continued cooling in investment demand, transactions were relatively difficult and price involution was severe. Overall, spot market trading this week was generally subdued.