The Brazilian ministry of economy has concluded a probe into a Chinese exporter that claimed to be exporting Malaysian-originated stainless-steel cold rolled products to Brazil, according to a government notice.
The government investigation found that Yankong Stainless SDN.BHD cold rolled steel products exported to Brazil, under the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) 400 and 430 grades, did not meet Brazilian regulations to be considered a Malaysian product.
The investigation followed a request in November 2018 from the Brazilian Association of Processors and Stainless-Steel Distributors (Aprodinox), which claimed that exports from allegedly Malaysian origin were actually of Chinese origin. Brazil said Yankong used imported coils and transformed them into sheets. As such, the product could not be considered as having originated in Malaysia, since the Chinese exports used shearing processes.
The products under review fell under Mercosur HS codes 219.32.00, 7219.33.00, 7219.34.00, 7219.35.00 and 7220.20.90.