G/SG/N/6/COL/5  
4 September  2013 
(13-4667) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Safeguards  Original:  Spanish  
 
  NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1 (A) OF THE AGREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS ON INITIATION OF AN INVESTIGATION  
AND THE REASONS FOR IT  
COLOMBIA  
(Steel Angles ) 
The following communication, dated 3 September  2013, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Colombia.  
 
 
_______________  
 
 
Pursuant to Article 1 2.1(a) of the WTO Agreement on S afeguard s, 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. 173, published in Colombian O fficial Journal No. 48.874 
of 6 August  2013.1 
 
2. Product in volved  
The product under investigation is steel angles, commercially known as "L -Profiles", 
classified  in the National Customs Tariff (Decree 4927 of 2011) under  the following subheadings:  
 
PRODUCT  SUBHEADING  DESCRIPTION (ADAPTED TEXT ) 
Steel angles  7216.2 1.00.00  L-profiles  
 
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., 
which  account for more than 50 % of the domestic output of steel angles classified under 
tariff subheading 7216.21.00.00 . 
 
ii. Evidence on the basis of which the investigation was initiated  
 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The behaviour of total imports during the years 2010 and 2011 shall be taken as the historical 
reference, while the year 2012 shall be considered as the most recent or critical period in which 
                                               
1 http://www.imprenta.gov.co  G/SG/N/6/COL/5  
- 2 - 
  imports have increased in such quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten 
to cause injury to the domestic industry.  
 
The evaluation  that was undertaken revealed that in annual terms , total im ports were on the rise, 
with increases of 93.18 % in 2011 and 75.49 % in 2012 in comparison to 2010.  
 
The six -monthly analysis shows steady growth between the second half of 2011 and the fi rst half 
of 2012, with increases  of 160.9 % and 35.55 % respectively . From the first half of 2010 to the first 
half of 2011, imports increase d by 4.28%, less than for the last three six -month periods, 
the second half of 2011 and the first and second hal ves of 2012 . During the second half of 2012 , 
the volume of imports fell 18 .23% to 10,010 tonnes.  
 
 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 f irst and second halves of 2010 and 2011 (reference period).  
 
The comparison of the reference period with the critical period found sufficient indication of serious 
injury in the poor performance of the domestic industry in respect of the following variable s: 
volume of production, volume of production in relation to Apparent Domestic Consumption (ADC), 
volume of domestic sales, net sales revenue,  gross profit,  gross profit margin, operating profit 
margin, total imports in relation to the volume of production  destined for the domestic market, 
final domestic sales inventory, 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 , at biannual level, for the production of steel 
angles (L -profiles), injury was found in respect of : (1) gross profit margin, (2) operating profit 
margin, (3)  net sales, (4) gross profit, and (5) operating profit.  
 
 Causal link  
Since the second half of 201 1, the domestic producers' market share has decreased, 
while the volume of imports has steadily increased . This was mo st notable in the first 
and the second half of  2012. The market growth recorded in the first half of 2012 positioned 
imports in  such a way  as to displace domestic producers.  
 
The domestic sales component of ADC showed a loss of market share of 25.4 percentage points 
between the reference period and the critical period, while other domestic producers 
lost 8.5 percentage points during the same  periods.  
 
Total imports gained 33.9 percentage points between the reference period and the critical period, 
thus displacing domestic producers in the first and the second half of 2012, with imports 
increasing by 239.5 %. 
 
As for the domestic industry's abi lity to supply the domestic market for steel angles (L -profiles), 
it was able to cover 123.34 % of the market in the reference period and 108.84 % of the market 
in 2012. These figures refer exclusively to DIACO S.A., which accounts for 61 % of the domestic 
industry , and to other domestic producers.  
 
iii. Evidence of critical circumstances  
Pursuant to domestic legislation (Article 33 of Decree No. 152 o f 1998), and in accordance 
with Article 6 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, a study was duly conducted in or der to 
analyse the  behaviour of indicators of critical circumstances . The study focused on variables in 
respect of  inventories, domestic sales, and gross and operating pr ofit, which were taken from 
the economic and financial information, by line of production, provided by DIACO S.A . The study 
compared the performance of each of these indicators between the first and  the second  half 
of 2012, in the light of the increase in imports in that year.  
 G/SG/N/6/COL/5  
- 3 - 
  The comparison showed evidence of critical circumstances : a decline of 21.41 % in domestic 
sales,  a drop of 0.57 percentage points in the gross profit margin, and a reduction  
of 4.71 percentage points in the operating profit margin.  
 
Between the first and second half of 2012, the volume of total imports declined by 18.23 % 
from 12,242 tonnes to 10, 010, i.e. by 2 ,232 tonnes . 
 
Per unit import prices fell by 1.89 % in 2012,  from US$789/tonne in  the first half of the year  
to US$774/tonne in the second half of the year.  
 
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.: (+571) 6067 -676, Ext. 2225 and 1694  
Fax: (+571) 6069 -944 
E-mail: efernandez@mincit.gov.co;  rrojas@mincit.gov.co  
 
5. Deadli nes and procedures for importers, exporters and other interested parties 
to present evidence and their views  
On 1 4 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 duly 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 followin g the date of publication of the invitation.  
 
Furthermore, on 1 6 August  2013, the Sub -Directorate of Trade P ractices sent communications 
to the interested parties informing them of the initiation of the investigation and requesting them 
to complete questio nnaires, which must be returned within th irty (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.mincit.gov.co/publicaciones.php?id=7 596. 
 
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, Indust ry and Tourism.  
 
__________