There are fresh moves under way to persuade government to implement additional duty rebates on long-steel products being imported into South Africa amid reports of supply shortages that have arisen after the closure by ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) of its longs business.

Following the first phase of a wide-ranging steel tariff review, duties were increased from 0% to 10% in May across all long-steel imports, including on bars, rods, wire, sections and structural steel.

In addition, following a separate anti-dumping investigation, imports of structural steel and steel sections from China and Thailand have, since March, been exposed to antidumping duties of 74.98% and 20.32% respectively.

Government is currently providing limited duty relief from both the general customs duties and anti-dumping duties for products certified as not being produced domestically. It has, however, not yet expanded the rebate coverage as initially anticipated to ensure that there were no supply disruptions following the closure of AMSA’s longs business.

XA Global Advisors COO Pieter du Plessis reports that, while the wide-ranging steel tariff review and the anti-dumping probe are distinct processes and have, correctly, been treated as such by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac), the expansion of Schedule 4 rebates to provide the necessary duty relief on products not produced in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), is part of the steel industry tariff review that is still in progress.

He attributes this disruption to the fact that only partial duty relief is currently provided pending the finalisation of the current phase of the steel review.

Itac is expected to publish a new Gazette notice imminently in this regard, which will include a 30-day comment period. It is, thus, unlikely to send any recommendations to the ministers of trade, industry and competition, and finance before the end of November.

The problem is said to be especially acute for structural steel imported under the 72.16 tariff heading, where imports from the key source markets of China and Thailand face anti-dumping duties in addition to the 10% general duty.

This steel is typically used in the mining, construction, and manufacturing sectors.

Du Plessis says there is now industry-wide concern about low or no stock, alongside reports of shipments being diverted to other markets, rising storage costs for products held in bonded warehouses, and delayed shipments in anticipation of the rebates being created to avert a supply crunch.

“When AMSA exited long-steel production, the downstream value chain de-stocked while anticipating the implementation of the required rebate items, which have not materialised,” he explains.

Du Plessis says that several industry participants are aiming to approach government to explain the urgency of the matter, and to seek an “expedited” decision on the extension of rebates during October to address the immediate shortages that are currently being reported.

He notes that the relief industry will seek is in line with that signalled in a November 2025 Gazette notice published after Itac concluded the first phase of the steel tariff review. That notice flagged possible rebates at a four-digit level, which would represent a broad-based potential for relief, for long steel products captured under five tariff headings, including 72.13, 72.14, 72.15, 72.16 and 72.17.

He argues that the implementation of such rebates would not result in the removal of protection for domestic manufacturers of long-steel products, as any relief on the customers or anti-dumping duties would be granted only once the South African Iron and Steel Institute has provided confirmation that the products in question are not produced locally.

It is understood that concerned companies could seek to have the issue place before the Itac Commission during one of its two meetings in October so that it can deliberate on the proposal to extend rebate coverage across the five tariff headings.

In response to questions posed by Engineering News in relation to the implementation of the proposed rebate items for structural and long-steel products no longer produced in Sacu following the closure of AMSA’s Newcastle Works, Itac has indicated that various steps had been taken. 

It reports that its Revised Minute M01/2026 was implemented by the South African Revenue Service on September 11, giving effect to the rebate on the anti-dumping duties applicable on certain I and H sections of iron or non-alloy steel, classifiable in tariff subheadings 7216.32 and 7216.33.

“The Commission’s recommendations from the review of the tariff structure for steel products, initiated in March 2025, including the creation of certain new rebate provisions, were implemented on 15 May 2026.

“However, the creation of rebate provisions for the AMSA Newcastle range of long-steel products did not form part of the investigation initiated in March 2025, nor were they included in the Commission’s recommendations contained in Itac Report No. 764, as AMSA’s Newcastle Works was still operational at that time.

“Following the closure of Newcastle Works, Itac recognised the impact on downstream users and took steps to initiate an investigation for the creation of rebate provisions for long steel products. These provisions focus on Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 duties and were initially published for comments by the Commission in November 2025,” Itac states.

It reports, too, that the Commission has since considered the preliminary findings regarding the creation of these rebate provisions, which are expected to be published in the Government Gazette for comment by interested parties in the next few days.

“In light of this process, urgent implementation of the requested rebate provisions would not be practical at this stage, as interested parties must first be afforded an opportunity to comment on the preliminary findings.”