[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Dongkuk CM (CEO Park Sang-hoon), a company specializing in galvanized and color steel sheets of the Dongkuk Steel Group, has decided to file an anti-dumping suit (AD: Anti-Dumping) against Chinese color steel sheets and galvanized steel sheets for construction.

Dongkuk CM, the largest domestic producer of architectural plating and color steel sheets, has decided to join forces with its industry peers to file a lawsuit due to concerns that the indiscriminate influx of low-priced Chinese plating and color steel sheets is ▲hindering the development of domestic companies striving for premiumization and differentiation, ▲distorting domestic market prices, and ▲threatening the safety of citizens’ homes with substandard products.

Construction plating and color steel plates have various uses. Low-priced materials are used in factories and warehouses as single-color sandwich panels. High-priced materials have design and function and are used as interior and exterior building materials such as roofs, inner walls, outer walls, and signboards. The domestic market size is about 2.8 million tons per year as of 2024. When converted to monetary value, it is about 3 trillion won. Of that, imported products account for 1 million tons. Chinese products account for 90% of imports.

Korea is a country that is leading the premiumization of plating and color steel plates in the global market. 'Luxteel' is a representative example. Dongkuk CM, SeAH CM, and KG Steel produce domestically. Each company believes that they will have a differentiating strength by grafting design and technology onto steel plates to give them color and function, and through investment for several years, they are growing from a mass-production steel company focusing on 'large-scale production of small varieties' to a premium steel company that 'produces small quantities of many varieties'.

Dongkuk CM analyzed that the domestic market, which is the foundation of premium plating and color steel plate manufacturers that must grow while competing with foreign steel companies in the global market, is concerned that the domestic market may regress to the level of low-priced products due to the proliferation of imported Chinese plating and color steel plates and gradually lose growth momentum, and that market defense through trade regulations is urgently needed.

In fact, the import volume of Chinese architectural plating and color steel plates has increased by 34.2% from 760,000 tons per year to 1.02 million tons per year over the past three years, and the unit price has also decreased by 23.3% from $952 per ton to $730.

Due to the surge in low-priced imports, Dongkuk CM's domestic operating profit in 2024 is expected to plummet by -84.0% for architectural galvanized steel sheets and -24.0% for architectural color steel sheets compared to the previous year, and the actual damage is becoming visible.

Dongkuk CM believes that ‘premiumization and differentiation’ are the only ways to survive in the era of Trump 2.0 and rising global trade barriers. It has judged that this is a time when its domestic demand base can no longer be destroyed. Therefore, it plans to go through a detailed coordination process with domestic companies such as Sae-A CM to defend against low-priced Chinese plating and color steel plates. It also plans to quickly pursue the filing of AD lawsuits so that the effective regulatory effect can occur from the first half of the year at the latest.

The relevant industry is concerned that if China considers imposing tariffs on hot-rolled steel plates, which are expected to be investigated, there could be a sharp increase in the amount of products that are exported indirectly by going through minimal plating and coating and disguising themselves as plated and color steel plates.

A Dongkuk CM official emphasized, “It is time for a strategic trade response through a macro analysis of the steel production structure,” and “It is necessary to minimize friction with neighboring countries and seek the survival of the steel industry together by applying gradual trade regulations starting from final steel products.”

Meanwhile, Dongkuk CM announced that it will take strong legal action against Chinese-made defective plating and color steel plates that threaten residential safety. It revealed that most Chinese-made color steel plates currently in circulation in the market have a level (60g/㎡) that is far below the plating weight (90g/㎡) stipulated by the Building Act, and that the manufacturer is not even listed. Plating thickness is directly related to corrosion and fire safety. Approximately 2.7 million tons have been imported into the country over the past three years.