The US Department of Commerce has denied Allegheny Technologies Inc’s (ATI) request for a tariff exclusion for 336,000 tonnes/year of Indonesian stainless slabs.

The exclusion was part of the company’s STAL joint venture with Chinese steelmaker Baosteel, Kallanish notes.

“While we are disappointed that the US Department of Commerce denied the jv’s Section 232 tariff exclusion request, it does not change our strategy of returning ATI’s Flat Roll Products segment to sustained profitability,” says ceo Robert Wetherbee. “Although we believe the unique status of the North American stainless steel industry warranted approval of our exclusion, we are committed to meeting our customers’ needs and delivering value to our shareholders. We will work with our joint venture partner to determine our next steps.”

In the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call earlier this week, Wetherbee told analysts that he expected a positive ruling despite the objections of domestic competitors Outokumpu Stainless USA and North American Stainless.

“We've seen signals in other areas that they are making decisions on other exclusion requests. There have been approvals for requests even when there were objections,” he says on the call. “So I think they (Commerce) are working through the facts and I think in the slab case, as we have said before, there is no market, no merchant market for stainless slabs, never has been. And so I think if you want to categorise the objections as disingenuous, I would. So I think they will make the right decision here shortly.”