G/SG/N/6/COL/7  
4 September 2013  
(13-4669)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: Spanish  
 
  NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(A) OF THE AGREEMENT 
ON SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATI ON OF AN INVESTIGATION 
AND THE REASONS FOR IT 
COLOMBIA  
(Angles, Shapes and Sections of Ir on or Non-Alloy Steel (Square)  
and Bars and Rods of Iron or Non-Alloy Steel (Plates))  
The following communication, dated 3 September 2013, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Colombia. 
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Pursuant to Article 12.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, Colombia hereby notifies 
the initiation of the following safeguards investigation in accordance with the regulations 
established in its domestic legislation - Decree No. 152 of 1998. 
1. Date when the investigation was initiated 
The investigation was initiated on 1 August 2013 under Initiating Resolution 
(Resolución de Apertura ) No. 174, published in Colombian Official Journal No. 48.874 
of 6 August 2013.1 
2. Product involved 
The product under investigation is square angles, shapes and sections and plates of steel, which 
are classified in the National Customs Tariff (Decree No. 4927 of 2011) under the following subheadings: 
PRODUCT  SUBHEADING  DESCRIPTION (ADAPTED TEXT)  
Bars and rods of iron 
or non-alloy steel 7214.91.10.00 Other bars and rods of non-alloy steel, not further worked 
than hot rolled, hot drawn or hot extruded, of rectangular 
cross section, of a diameter not exceeding 100 mm. 
Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel 7216.50.00.00 Other angles, shapes and section of iron or non-alloy steel, 
not further worked and hot rolled, hot drawn or extruded. 
 
3. Reasons for the initiation of the investigation 
i. Request  
The investigation request was submitted by the companies SIDOC S.A. and DIACO S.A., 
w h i c h  t o g e t h e r  a c c o u n t  f o r  m o r e  t h a n  5 0 %  o f  d o m e s t i c  o u t p u t  o f  s q u a r e  a n g l e s ,  s h a p e s  a n d  
sections and plates of steel classified under tariff subheadings 7214.91.10.00 and 7216.50.00.00.  
                                               
1 http://www.imprenta.gov.co  G/SG/N/6/COL/7 
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  ii. Evidence on the basis of which the inve stigation was initiated (bars and rods of 
iron or non-alloy steel, "plate") 
 Analysis of imports 
The behaviour of total imports during the years 2010 and 2011 shall be taken as the historical 
reference, while the year 2012 shall be considered as the most recent or critical period in which 
imports have increased in such quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause injury to the domestic industry. 
In annual terms, total imports were on the rise, with increases of 324% in 2011 and 881% in 2012 
in comparison to 2010. 
The six-monthly analysis shows an increase of  579% for the first half of 2011 in comparison 
to the previous six-month period, as well as a growth of 410% during the first half of 2012 
in comparison to the immediately preceding six-month period. The analysis shows a significant 
drop in the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012, with the volume of imports falling by 53% and 58% respectively in comparison to the previous six-month period. 
 Analysis of injury indicators 
In order to analyse the impact that the imports had on the domestic industry in the first 
and second half of 2012 (critical period), the average for these periods was compared with 
the average for the first and second halves of 2010 and 2011 (reference period). 
The comparison of the reference period with the crit ical period found sufficient indication of serious 
injury in the poor performance of the domestic industry in respect of the following variables: volume of production, volume of production in re lation to Apparent Domestic Consumption (ADC), 
domestic sales, net sales revenue, total imports over volume of production, installed capacity 
utilization, direct employment, sales of domestic producers in relation to ADC, and total imports in relation to ADC. 
When comparing the behaviour of financial variables for the production of bars and rods of iron or 
non-alloy steel (plates), no injury was found in respect of: (1) gross profit; (2) gross profit margin; (3) final inventory; (4) productivity; (5) monthly real wages; (6) implicit real price. 
 Causal link 
Since the first half of 2011, the domestic producers' market share has decreased, 
while the volume of imports has steadily increa sed, especially in the second half of 2012 
and the first half of 2012. In the first an d second halves of 2012, imports displaced 
domestic producers. 
The domestic sales component of ADC showed a lo ss of market share of 6.17 percentage points, 
while the other domestic producers lost 12.39 percentage points during the same periods. 
Between the reference period and the critical period, total imports gained 18.56 percentage points 
during the two halves of 2012, and there is a ca usal link between them and the serious injury 
shown in the performance of economic and financial variables important to the domestic industry 
for bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel (plates). 
As for the domestic industry's capacity to pr operly supply the domestic market for bars and 
rods of iron or non-alloy steel (plates), it was able to cover 128.36% in the reference period and 123.17% in 2012. These figures refer to SIDOC S.A. and DIACO S.A., which accounted for 
91% of the domestic industry during the second  half of 2012, and to the other non-applicant 
domestic producers. G/SG/N/6/COL/7 
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  iii. Evidence on the basis of which the inve stigation was initiated (angles, shapes and 
sections of iron or non-alloy steel, "square") 
 Analysis of imports 
The behaviour of total imports during the years 2010 and 2011 shall be taken as the historical 
reference, while the year 2012 shall be considered as the most recent or critical period in which 
imports have increased in such quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause injury to the domestic industry. 
In annual terms, total imports were on the ri se, with increases of 37.94% in 2011 and 71.61% 
in 2012 in comparison to 2010. 
The six-monthly analysis showed an increase  of 95.39% in comparison to the previous 
six-month period in the first half of 2011, and a growth of 24.89% in comparison to 
the immediately preceding six-month period in th e first half of 2012. During the second half 
of 2012, the volume of imports increased by 106% in comparison to the immediately preceding period. 
 Analysis of injury indicators 
In order to analyse the impact that the imports had on the domestic industry in the first and 
second half of 2012 (critical period), the average for these periods was compared with the average 
for the first and second halves of 2010 and 2011 (reference period). 
The comparison of the reference period with the crit ical period found sufficient indication of serious 
injury in the poor performance of the domestic industry in respect of the following variables: volume of production, volume of production in re lation to Apparent Domestic Consumption (ADC), 
domestic sales, total imports over volume of production, final inventory, productivity, direct 
employment, sales of domestic producers in relation to ADC, and total imports in relation to ADC. 
When comparing the behaviour of financial variables for production of bars and rods of iron or 
non-alloy steel (plates), no injury was found in respect of: (1) income variables for net sales; 
(2) monthly real wages; (3) implicit real price; (4) volume of sales in relation to ADC. 
 Causal link 
Since the first half of 2011, the domestic producers' market share has decreased, while 
the volume of imports has steadily increased, especially in the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2012. In the first and second half of 2012, imports displaced domestic producers. 
The domestic sales component of ADC showed a gain  in market share of 5.68 percentage points, 
while the other domestic producers lost 10.91 percentage points during the same periods. 
Total imports between the reference period and the critical period gained 5.23 percentage points 
in the two halves of 2012, and there is a causal  link between them and the serious injury shown 
in the performance of economic and financial variables important to the domestic industry for 
angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel (square). 
As for the domestic industry's ability to proper ly supply the domestic market for angles, shapes 
and sections of iron or non-alloy steel (square), it was able to cover 118.69% in the reference 
period and 113.41% in 2012. These figures refer to SIDOC S.A. and DIACO S.A., which accounted for 91% of the domestic industry during the second half of 2012. 
iv. Evidence of critical circumstances 
Pursuant to domestic legislation (Article 33 of  Decree No. 152 of 1998), and in accordance with 
Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, a study was conducted in order to analyse the behaviour of indictors of critical circumstances. The study focused on variables in respect 
of inventories, domestic sales, and gross and operating profit, which were taken from 
the economic and financial information, by line of production, provided by SIDOC S.A. G/SG/N/6/COL/7 
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  and DIACO S.A. The study compared the performance of each of these indicators between the first 
and second half of 2012, in the light of the increase in imports in that year. 
The comparison showed evidence of critical circ umstances: a decline of 18.94% in the domestic 
sales indicators, a decrease in the gross profit margin of 9.24 percentage points, and reduction 
of 12.26 percentage points in the operating profit margin over the same periods. 
Between the first and second half of 2012, the volume of total imports rose by 0.30%, or 
345 tonnes, from 111,384 tonnes to 111,729 tonnes. 
Per unit import prices in the two halves of 2012 decreased by 5.18% from US$720 per tonne 
in the first half of the year to US$690 per tonne in the second half. 
4. Point of contact for the investigation and preferred means of communication 
Subdirección de Prácticas Comerciales (Sub-Directorate of Trade Practices) 
Calle 28 Nº 13A -15, Piso 3 
Bogotá, D.C. Tel.: (+57) 1 6067-676, Ext. 2225 and 1694 
Fax: (+57) 1 6069-944 
E-mail: efernandez@mincit.gov.co and rrojas@mincit.gov.co 
5. Deadlines and procedures for importers, exporters and other interested parties 
to present evidence and their views 
On 14 August 2013, the Foreign Trade Directorate of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry 
and Tourism, via the national newspapers El Nuevo Siglo  and La República , invited the parties 
concerned by the investigation to express their du ly substantiated views and to submit or request 
any evidence and documents that they considered relevant within thirty (30) working days from 
the first working day following the date of publication of the invitation. 
Furthermore, on 16 August 2013, the Sub-Direct orate of Trade Practices sent communications 
to the interested parties informing them of the initiation of the investigation and requesting them 
to complete questionnaires, which must be returned within thirty (30) working days from the first working day following the date they were  sent. These questionnaires may be downloaded 
from the following address: http://www.mincomercio.gov.co/publicaciones.php?id=7595 . 
Neither a date nor a place has yet been decided for the public hearing. This information 
will be announced to interested parties in a communication and via the website of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism. 
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