On February 23rd, South Korea announced an agreement with China on a price commitment plan in the final ruling of its anti-dumping case against Chinese hot-rolled steel coils. The Chinese and Korean industries have welcomed this, believing that price commitments instead of anti-dumping duties align with the interests of both countries' industries and will help enhance the stability and predictability of Sino-Korean steel trade.

In response, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that China and South Korea have close economic ties, with deeply intertwined industrial and supply chains, and mutually beneficial cooperation. The "soft landing" in this case reflects the mutual respect, understanding, and consideration of each other's concerns by both sides, sending a positive signal for consolidating and deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

South Korea initiated an anti-dumping investigation on March 4, 2025, for hot-rolled steel coils originating from China and Japan. During the response process, the China Iron and Steel Association (hereinafter referred to as CISA), under the unified deployment of the Ministry of Commerce's Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau, and authorized by major domestic export member enterprises, conducted multiple rounds of practical and candid consultations with the Korea Trade Commission (KTC). With the active communication and coordination of the competent commercial authorities of China and South Korea, the price commitment plan was successfully implemented. On February 23rd of this year, the Korea Trade Commission officially accepted the price commitments from six Chinese enterprises, including Baosteel and Benxi Steel, as well as three Japanese enterprises, including Nippon Steel and Tokyo Steel.

Hot-rolled steel coils are core materials for the construction industry and downstream manufacturing, as well as the core base material for products such as cold-rolled steel coils and galvanized steel coils. They are widely used in fields such as automobiles, shipbuilding, and heavy machinery.

According to Wu Jinchang, an analyst at Shanghai Steel Union's Plate and Strip Division, based on the final ruling, South Korea will implement quota management for hot-rolled steel coils imported from China, and will no longer impose additional anti-dumping duties. The price determination and trade supervision for products within the quota will be based on the Chinese hot-rolled steel coil market price data published by Shanghai Steel Union. Furthermore, South Korea has set a minimum export price, which will be adjusted quarterly, and anti-dumping duties will be imposed on companies that violate the price commitment.

Wu Jinchang stated that China and South Korea are both major steel producers and consumers in the Asia-Pacific region. China's exports of hot-rolled steel coils to South Korea have remained high from 2023 to 2025, and this category has consistently accounted for over 65% of China's total steel exports to South Korea. The complementarity of steel trade between the two countries far outweighs the competition. China exports hot-rolled steel coils and other basic steel products to South Korea, providing high-cost-performance upstream raw materials for South Korea's manufacturing industry; South Korea, in turn, exports technology-intensive flat steel products such as high-end automotive steel and high-grade electrical steel to China, filling the gap in China's supply of high-end flat steel.

The "soft landing" of this hot-rolled steel coil anti-dumping case ensures the stable development of South Korea's domestic steel industry, providing a stable supply of high-cost-performance raw materials for its pillar industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding, effectively reducing upstream costs and enhancing overall industrial competitiveness. It has created a stable and predictable export environment for China's steel industry, ensuring the smooth flow of export channels for hot-rolled steel coils to South Korea, which helps in the orderly release of high-quality production capacity and also promotes the industry's accelerated transformation towards high-end and green development.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China stated that under the current international situation, China and South Korea have properly resolved the hot-rolled coil case within the framework of WTO rules, demonstrating to the world their firm stance in supporting multilateralism and safeguarding free and fair trade. This sets another example of properly resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, injecting positive energy into stabilizing international economic and trade cooperation.

A statement released by the China Iron and Steel Association pointed out that in the steel sector, China and South Korea are important investment and trade partners for each other. The communication channels between the steel industries and major steel enterprises of the two countries are smooth, and they rarely initiate trade remedy investigations against each other. After the initiation of trade remedy investigations, they can also resolve disputes through price undertakings based on the principles of mutual understanding, concession, and respect. Cases such as the anti-dumping investigation of Korean H-beams, the anti-dumping investigation of medium and thick plates, and the anti-dumping investigation of Chinese stainless steel hot-rolled coils and oriented electrical steel have all been concluded in this manner. The reasonable resolution of the current investigation is also an important prerequisite for promoting the resolution of subsequent investigations such as the anti-dumping of Korean galvanized steel coils.

Subsequently, under the guidance of the Ministry of Commerce of China, the China Iron and Steel Association will organize relevant enterprises to orderly implement the price undertaking for hot-rolled coils and actively cooperate with the Korean side in corresponding supervision. The China Iron and Steel Association also hopes that the Korean side can comprehensively consider the demands of the Korean steel industry and related downstream industries, and promote the resolution of subsequent trade disputes. China is willing to work with South Korea to jointly maintain the order of steel trade between China and South Korea, and even globally.