On 23 October the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced an investigation into the creation of a temporary rebate provision (Rebate Item) on flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600mm or more, in coils, not further worked than hot-rolled, pickled, of a thickness of less than 3mm, for use in the automotive industry, in such quantities, at such times and subject to such conditions as ITAC may allow by specific permit, provided the products are not available in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market, on which comment is due by 20 November.
The application was lodged by Aveng Trident Steel, a division of Aveng Africa (Pty) Ltd who reasoned that the products were currently not manufactured in the SACU region, and that the customs duties had an unnecessary cost-raising effect to downstream users in the automotive industry.
The Government Gazette notice is available at:
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202010/43834gen602.pdf
Story by: Riaan de Lange