China May Raise Manganese Export Tax
By Interfax-China
06 Apr 2007 at 08:31 AM GMT-04:00
resourceinvestor.com
SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China may increase the export tax on electrolytic manganese and manganese alloy in a move to counter rising exports, an industry analyst told Interfax today.
Industry rumours suggest that China may raise the electrolytic manganese export tax from 15% to 28 or 30% this month, while the export tax on manganese alloy may increase from 10% to 15%.
The price difference between electrolytic manganese and manganese alloy in domestic and overseas markets encourages exports under the current export tax rates, Antaike analyst surnamed Gao said.
The current manganese FOB price is $2,800 per tonne, while the domestic electrolytic manganese price lies between RMB 17,000 ($2,200) and RMB 18,000 ($2,329) per tonne. Under the current 15% export tax, the domestic price is approximately $113 to $270 per tonne less than the overseas price.
"China is likely to further increase the current the export tax rate on manganese and manganese alloy if there is a further increase in exports," Gao said. He declined to comment further on the rumors.
China exported 33,900 tonnes of electrolytic manganese in January and February, down 19.15% from the previous year. High carbon ferromanganese (>2%) exports increased 106% to 24,967 tonnes and silicon manganese exports increased to 87,100 tonnes, up 55.9% during the same period, according to Beijing Antaike Information Co. Ltd.
Gao attributed the recent slump in electrolytic manganese exports to the Spring Festival and predicts that China's electrolytic manganese and manganese alloy exports will bounce back in March.
China imposed the current 10% manganese alloy export tax on Jan. 1, 2007, down from a previous 20%.
On August 1 2005, the Chinese government cancelled the 13% export tax rebate on unrolled manganese and scrap manganese of tax code of 81110010 starting.
Manganese is essential to iron and steel production. Steel making, including its iron making component, has accounted for most manganese demand, presently in the range of 85% to 90% of the total demand.
Among a variety of other uses, manganese is a key component of low-cost stainless steel formulations and certain widely used aluminium alloys.
© Interfax-China 2007.
This article comes from Interfax China Commodities Daily, a daily digest produced by Interfax News Agency in Mainland China. To receive 10 free copies of this, please e-mail david.harman@interfax-news.com. |
