China's steel export rise has been mainly driven by stronger international demand instead of government subsidies to steel producers, said an official with the Ministry of Commerce.

The Chinese government offers no subsidies to steel producers and has cut export tax rebates on steel products several times since last year, said Wang Shouwen, director of the Department of Foreign Trade with the ministry, at a forum on steel strategy and investment that closed here Thursday.

China exported 37.46 million tons of steel products from January to November, double that of the same 2005 period.

The export hike has so far prompted 11 countries to launch 27 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese steel producers, involving 900 million U.S. dollars, said Wang.

Steel producers in the United States and the American Iron and Steel Institute appealed to U.S. trade officials twice this year, demanding actions against China's alleged subsidies to its steel manufacturers.

The ministry will work to solve trade disputes through active dialogues with foreign countries, Wang said.

As part of its efforts to curb the export and production of energy- and resource-intensive products, China has slashed the export tax rebate rate of steel products three times since last year, from 15 percent to 8 percent.

The country has also raised the tariff rates of pig iron and steel billets by 10 percent.

The dampening measures should take obvious effect next year, said Luo Bingsheng, executive deputy president of the China Iron and Steel Association (CSIA), at the forum.

However, a fourth cut of export tax rebates is possible if the policies fail to control the country's hefty steel export, said Luo.

He said more than half of the country's increased steel output found foreign markets this year.

China's steel production will increase by 70 million tons this year over last year, said Jia Yanlin, assistant general manager of the Shanghai-based industry heavyweight Bao Steel Co. Ltd, at a forum earlier this month.

Despite a rapid growth, the steel export only accounts for 8 percent of its total domestic output, compared with about 20 percent in Japan and the Republic of Korea and 60 percent in Russia, said Wang.

"All countries have gained from the booming international steel market," he said.

According to statistics of the CSIA, China produced 339 million tons of steel products in the first three quarters, up 23.66 percent from the same period of last year.

Source: Xinhua