China today said it has started imposing anti-dumping tariffs on certain steel imports from the European Union, Japan and South Korea, as Beijing itself comes under fire for similar trade practices.
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Rio Tinto declined to comment, while officials from BHP and Vale could not immediately be reached for comment.
Less than 65 percent of Chinese miners are still in business, the association said, noting that almost 85 percent of iron ore consumed in China is now imported.
China’s decision to levy anti-dumping duties on electric steel products from Japan was unjust and regrettable, the chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said on Monday.
The move comes as part of China’s bid to prevent the dumping of steel after an investigation found that the Chinese economy was taking a hit as European countries violated worldwide trade agreements and over flooded world markets with steel and aluminum.
China has seen a rising mountain of imported iron ore at its ports and imports are forecast to increase by 2.1% to 974 million tonnes in 2016 and by 0.7% to 981 million tonnes in 2017, according to Australia’s Department of Industry and Science.
China has faced its own anti-dumping measures over accusations of flooding markets with cheap steel.
The Metallurgical Mines’ Association of China, representing more than 20 miners, asked the Ministry of Commerce to start the probe as soon as possible, according to a statement on the group’s website dated July 25, without identifying any companies.
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Firmer iron ore futures could support spot prices although slow physical trades may keep the spot benchmark well below $60 a tonne, traders say.
