China will cancel some steel export tax rebates from May 1

The Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday, April 28 that China will cancel export tax rebates for certain steel products from May 1.

The Ministry of Railways stated that steel products with HS codes 7205-7307 will be affected, including hot-rolled coils, rebars, wire rods, hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, medium-thick plates, H-beams and stainless steels.
Since January and February of this year, the market has been discussing the cancellation of the steel export tax rebate rate chat. Since then, the uncertainty has caused turbulence in the steel market.
The policy covers almost all steel products, except cold rolled coils, hot-dip galvanized coils and aluminum-zinc coated coils.
Although these products are not included in the policy, market sources said that they believe the export tax rebate rate will be reduced from the current 13% to 4% or 9%.
On the same day, the Ministry of Railways announced a policy to adjust the import and export tax on ferrous metal raw materials, aimed at reducing import costs and increasing the import of steel raw materials.
Market participants believe that after the current policy of abolishing the steel tax rebate rate, there may be another policy to reduce steel exports.
For stainless steel products, the export tax rebate rate for stainless steel hot-rolled coils, stainless steel hot-rolled sheets and stainless steel cold-rolled sheets will also be cancelled from May 1.
The current rebate for these stainless steel products is 13%.