SYDNEY, May 4, 2026, 04:02 (AEST)
Australia’s Anti-Dumping Commission has opened an investigation into alleged dumping of zinc-coated, or galvanised, steel from South Korea and Vietnam after an application by BlueScope Steel Limited, putting a fresh trade-protection test in front of the country’s biggest steelmaker. The case covers steel coated with zinc to slow corrosion, a common product in construction and manufacturing.
The timing matters because the inquiry has moved from complaint to formal process. Anti-dumping duties are tariffs that can be imposed when imports are found to be sold below normal value and to have hurt a local industry; the commission said a preliminary affirmative determination could come no earlier than day 60, with a final recommendation due by Oct. 2.
The notice names Dongkuk Steel Mill and POSCO Holdings of South Korea, and Hoa Sen Group and Nam Kim Steel of Vietnam. BlueScope’s application alleges the imports caused injury through lost sales volume, reduced market share, price pressure and lower profits, revenue and return on investment.
The case lands as BlueScope Chief Executive Tania Archibald presses Canberra on two fronts: cheaper gas and stronger trade defences. At a Melbourne Mining Club event last week, Archibald called for an “effective domestic gas reservation scheme” and said “Australian manufacturing can’t compete” at current energy costs, while also warning that dumped steel was hurting local fabricators. Reuters
The broader steel backdrop is not benign. China’s steel exports rose 7.5% in 2025 to a record 119.02 million tons, Reuters reported in January, even as more countries put up trade barriers to protect domestic manufacturers.
BlueScope shares closed at A$30.00 on May 1, up 0.7%, after trading between A$29.685 and A$30.270, according to Investing.com data. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed the same day at 8,729.80, up 0.74%, LSEG data on Reuters showed.
That A$30 level keeps the stock below the revised A$32.35-per-share cash proposal from SGH and U.S. steelmaker Steel Dynamics. Under that plan, SGH would buy BlueScope and on-sell its North American operations to Steel Dynamics, while retaining the Australia and rest-of-world businesses.
BlueScope rejected the revised A$15 billion bid in February but left room for talks if value and execution concerns were addressed. Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments at VanEck, told Reuters at the time that BlueScope still had “good operations,” while Milford Asset Management analyst Greg Cassidy said directors “haven’t outright said no.” Reuters
The company’s own numbers give both sides something to work with. BlueScope reported first-half fiscal 2026 net profit after tax of A$391 million, up 118% from a year earlier, and underlying EBIT — earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating profit — of A$558 million; it forecast second-half underlying EBIT of A$620 million to A$700 million, subject to steel spreads, foreign exchange and market conditions.
Energy costs are less clear-cut. AEMO said east coast wholesale gas averaged A$10.61 per gigajoule in the first quarter, down 20% from a year earlier, and fell to A$9.22 in March, a four-year low. That gives policymakers an argument that prices have eased, even if heavy industrial users say delivered costs and volatility still leave them exposed.
The risk is that neither lever moves far enough. The dumping case is an investigation, not a tariff decision, and exporters and importers still have room to contest it; on the deal side, BlueScope has told shareholders there is no certainty the revised SGH-Steel Dynamics proposal will result in a transaction.
