"If more countries follow the move and launch similar investigations, it will be a heavy blow to the domestic steel industry, which is already struggling with the overcapacity problem," he noted.
Last year there were nine trade remedy cases against Chinese steel products launched by economies including the EU, Australia, Thailand and Brazil, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said in a statement published last month.
Also, "there is little possibility that trade frictions in the steel sector will be relieved in 2013," the association said.
"The frequent investigations indicate that the global economy is still sluggish, so countries prefer to adopt trade remedies to protect their domestic industries," said Xu Xiangchun, information director with industry consultancy mysteel.com.
China's steel exports to the EU slumped by 23.6 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, Xu cited data from the CISA.
"The EU continues to target Chinese steel mills despite the slump in exports, which is unfair and shows the European economy remains fragile," he noted.
China exported 55.73 million tons of steel products in 2012, a 14 percent year-on-year increase.
The top export destinations are ASEAN countries, which accounted for a quarter of the total exports, and South Korea, which accounted for 18 percent of the total exports, according to the CISA.
Xu expects China's steel exports might decrease in 2013 from a year earlier as a result of increasing trade protectionism, which will make the overcapacity problem in the domestic market more severe.
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