On 17 December 2025, the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced that initiation of an investigation into the alleged dumping of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600mm or more, clad, plated or coated, painted, varnished or coated with plastics (colour-coated steel), classifiable under tariff subheadings 7210.70.20, 7210.70.30, 7210.70.40 and 7210.70.90, originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China (China) on which comment is due by 16 January 2026.
ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd (AMSA) and Safal Steel (Pty) Ltd (SAFAL) (the applicants) submitted an application to ITAC alleging that colour-plate steel originating in or imported from China is being dumped on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market, causing material injury to the SACU industry concerned.
The dumping margin for China was determined to be 51%.
On this basis, ITAC found that there was prima facie proof of dumping of colour-plate steel originating in or imported from China.
The applicants submitted evidence showing they had experienced injury in the form of price suppression, price undercutting, decline in sales volumes, decline in profits, a decline in output volumes, a decline in market share, increase in wages, a decline in capital investment, a decline in return on investment, decline in capacity utilisation, a decline in cashflow and a decline in capital investment from 01 May 2022 to 30 April 2025.
On this basis, ITAC found that there was prima facie proof of material injury and a causal link between dumping and the injury suffered by the applicants.
The period of investigation for purposes of determining the dumping margin in the exporting country of origin is from 01 May 2024 to 30 April 2025. The period of investigation for purposes of determining material injury is from 01 May 2022 to 30 April 2025.