Chinese steelmaker Baosteel Group has denied accusations by U.S. Steel Corp that it was involved in stealing commercial secrets, calling it baseless, as it pledged to protect its rights, Reuters reported.
Baosteel, the country's second-biggest steelmaker and the world's fourth, issued the statement on Friday, April 29, in response to U.S. Steel, which launched a campaign urging to stop steel imports from China.
"In particular, the charges claiming that Baosteel stole commercial secrets from U.S. Steel is rootless speculation and subjective assumption, and could even be described as an absurd statement," Baosteel said in statement emailed to media.
"Baosteel has not and will never steal to obtain technology," the company added.
The Chinese steelmaker said that it has always been dedicated to do its own original research and technology improvement.
"The charges in the application violate the spirit of justice and fairness and were also disrespectful and besmirching to Baosteel and its research staff," Baosteel said.
"Baosteel will protect its legal rights in accordance with related international regulations and laws," the company added.
On Tuesday, April 26, a complaint was filed by U.S. Steel with the International Trade Commission (ITC) asking regulators to probe Chinese producers and their distributors which it alleged were engaged in fixing prices, evading trade duties by false labeling, and stealing trade secrets.
China's commerce ministry said that the U.S. Steel's allegations had "no factual basis" as it urged the ITC to reject its call.
In a statement issued on Friday, the China Iron and Steel Association said that the allegations of intellectual property infringement were "completely baseless," adding that they abide by Chinese law and international norms.
Following the failure of China and other steel-producing countries to address the crisis in the industry, the United States, the European Union and other countries also called for immediate action last week.
Britain's largest steel producer, Tata Steel, said it plans to pull out of the country, which could affect 15,000 jobs.
Since last year, China, which has been at the center of a growing resentment among steel-producing countries, reported that its steel exports surged to a record 112 million tons. This year, however, a domestic steel price rally could restrict shipments as producers plan to sell more in China.
Baoshan Iron & Steel said the rapid increase in Chinese steel prices may deter government efforts to curb overcapacity and may help prevent an increase in steel prices in the short term by allowing closed mills to restart.
"This will slow the reduction in overcapacity, but with mills reopening and supplies rising and the government strengthening monitoring on real estate and futures, steel prices will fall," Baosteel board secretary Zhu Kebing said in an online briefing.
Previous cuts in big steel production, low inventories and improvement in Chinese economy may have caused the spike in steel prices, Zhu said.