POSCO lodges anti-dumping suit over Japanese hot coils

Pohang Iron & Steel Co. (POSCO) announced plans to lodge an anti-dumping lawsuit against four Japanese iron & steel companies, the first time a Korean company has brought such litigation against large Japanese firms.

POSCO said Wednesday that it requested the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy to conduct an anti-dumping investigation on hot coils manufactured in Japan.

It said the four Japanese shaft furnace companies were disrupting the Korean iron & steel market by exporting coils at much lower prices than they were sold at in Japan.

Subject to the suit are Japan's Nippon Steel Corporation, NKK, Kawasaki and Kobe Iron & Steel companies, which export a combined total of 3 million tons of hot coils to Korea annually.

POSCO said the firms had exported hot coils at $256 per ton during the third quarter of this year but were selling them for $205 per ton in the fourth quarter. POSCO¡¯s export price to Japan is currently $264~$273.

POSCO's executive director Yu Byong-Chang said Korea would take countermeasures against any country using unfair trade practices.

Kim Dong-Won daviskim@donga.com