US files anti-dumping case against Oman

MUSCAT: An anti-dumping case has been filed by the United States against Oman and four other countries, for selling steel pipes below its fair price.

The lawsuit, filed by the Department of Commerce, follows allegations of dumping against these countries by US steel manufacturing companies.

“They had chosen for investigation period between July 2014 and June 2015,” said Al Jazeera Steel Products in a statement posted on the Muscat Securities Market website on Sunday. However, Al Jazeera Steel noted that there would not be much impact on the company’s sales revenue.

A US International Trade Commission circular said that the investigation would be for circular welded carbon-quality steel pipes. The US steel pipe makers, which lodged a complaint against dumping, are Bull Moose Tube Company, EXLTUBE, Wheatland Tube and Western Tube and Conduit.

Apart from Oman, the complaint is against steel pipe producers of the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Al Jazeera Steel earlier said that its net profit fell by 66.74 per cent to OMR1.56 million for the first nine months of 2015 from OMR4.69 million for the same period last year, mainly due to a fall in steel price in the global market.

The company’s revenue also fell by 23.03 per cent to OMR56.26 million for the nine-month period of 2015, against OMR73.09 million posted for the same period last year. This fall in quantity was mainly due to the lower demand and negative news circulating in the market with regard to further drop in steel prices.

With the steady drop in oil prices, new explorations in the US oilfields have come to a veritable stand still. No rigs are being drilled and the shale industry has become static, the company said, adding that this has led to a ripple effect in the ancillary supply chain including the pipe market, which includes OCTG, line and even standard pipes. This has impacted the company’s export sales as well, Al Jazeera said in its third quarter financial result.