In the first half of 2026, multiple countries rolled out anti-dumping and countervailing duties targeting China’s coated steel products, creating heavy headwinds for exports of cold-rolled substrate galvanized steel coils (GI) and prepainted galvanized coils (PPGI). The export flow of Chinese steel products underwent profound restructuring, and Southeast Asia emerged as the most critical incremental buffer market relying on differentiated tariff policies.

According to the January-May national steel import and export statistics released by the China Iron and Steel Association in early July, China’s total exports of galvanized sheets, galvalume sheets and prepainted coated sheets hit 5.6348 million tons in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year decline of 2.71%, ending two consecutive years of export growth. Breakdown market data showed shipment volumes to traditional core importers including Europe, America, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East shrank sharply, dragging down overall export performance. The South Korean market witnessed the most drastic shift: starting June 12, 2026, South Korea’s Ministry of Industry imposed provisional anti-dumping duties ranging from 22.34% to 33.67% on cold-rolled galvanized steel made in China, valid for four months. In 2025, China exported 1.4816 million tons of galvanized coils to South Korea, nearly 10% of the country’s total galvanized coil exports. After the high tariffs took effect, most Chinese foreign trade enterprises were forced to cut delivery plans to South Korea. Turkey, a key Middle Eastern market, finalized its anti-dumping verdict on Chinese coated steel sheets, imposing long-term tariffs of 22.37% to 32.40% valid for five years. Local construction and steel structure manufacturers faced drastically higher procurement costs, and Chinese exporters lost stable distribution channels across the Middle East.

With tariff barriers tightening across all traditional markets, continuous demand for steel from infrastructure, factory construction and agricultural supporting projects across Southeast Asian nations turned the region into a transformation hub for Chinese galvanized steel exporters. Distinct tariff rules in Thailand created exclusive market opportunities for hot-rolled substrate galvanized coils. Thailand’s trade remedy authority only levies anti-dumping taxes on GI and PPGI produced from cold-rolled substrates, while galvanized and prepainted coils based on hot-rolled substrates are exempt from extra import tariffs. Driven by this policy advantage, numerous domestic steel mills and trading firms adjusted production and export portfolios, cutting output of cold-rolled coated coils and focusing capacity on

0.30mm–0.70mm hot-rolled galvanized coils widely used for metal roofing. They also built local spot warehouses in northern industrial hubs including Bangkok, Nakhon Sawan and Lopburi, adopting local distribution models to supply regional roll forming factories, sandwich panel manufacturers and steel structure engineering contractors. Robust construction of farm shelters, cold storage warehouses and small-to-medium industrial plants generated strong demand for cost-effective weather-resistant galvanized coils. In the first half of 2026, China’s exports of hot-rolled substrate GI & PPGI to Thailand surged 31.6% year-on-year, the highest growth rate among all Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines and Vietnam followed, with steady rising orders for roofing galvanized coils driven by domestic manufacturing expansion.

Besides Southeast Asia, infrastructure investment across African nations absorbed part of galvanized coil export volumes displaced by global tariffs. Shifting demand patterns in Southeast Asia and Africa simultaneously pushed domestic exporters to upgrade product quality. Industry surveys indicated orders for high weather-resistance, eco-friendly low-zinc coating galvanized coils rose 18% year-on-year in 2026, while orders for low-grade ordinary galvanized coils kept declining. Meanwhile, customs supervision rules grew stricter: all specifications of galvanized steel coils require export licenses starting this year, phasing out small-scale, unqualified foreign trade players and concentrating industry resources on leading traders with stable mill supply chains and overseas local warehousing networks.

Steel foreign trade analysts stated that exports of cold-rolled substrate galvanized coils will remain under short-term pressure, with no sign of tariff relief in Europe, America, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East in the near future. In the long run, hot-rolled substrate galvanized coils eligible for tariff exemptions in Southeast Asia will remain the core breakthrough product for China’s coated steel exports. Deepening local distribution channels in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and improving overseas spot warehousing layouts will become the core strategy for galvanized steel exporters to sustain profitability over the next two years.

Source：

https://www.chinaisa.org.cn