Trade war pits Hulamin against deluge from Chinese suppliers
Having been shut out of the US market, Chinese suppliers of aluminium products are now flooding the rest of the world with cheap exports, says Tesla supplier Hulamin. Hulamin CEO Richard Jacob said on Monday US President Donald Trump’s trade war had effectively locked Chinese competitors out of that market, which accounts for 22% of the Pietermaritzburg-based company’s sales. But while the trade spat had buoyed prices and opened up a number of "niche opportunities" for Hulamin in the US — despite the imposition of a 10% import duty on its products — Jacobs said the company faced greater competition from Chinese suppliers in its other markets. "Given that 78% of our volumes are in our domestic market [SA], in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia and South America, the fact that Chinese capacity can’t sell in the US means that they’re now a bit more hyperactive in the rest of our markets, so that’s where the biggest concern is.
"There are hyper levels of what we would call dumping ...
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