The European Union will impose duties on imports from China of steel bars used to reinforce concrete at rates higher than initially proposed, the EU’s official journal said.

The bloc has set definitive anti-dumping duties on high performance reinforcement bars (HFP rebars) at between 18.4 and 22.5 per cent and will be in place for five years.

HFP rebars a specific type of steel produced in several EU member states and used as a standard in Britain and Ireland.

The investigation into dumping, or selling at unfairly low prices, was begun in April 2015 following a complaint from industry body Eurofer.

The Commission had previously imposed duties of between 9.2 and 13 per cent at the end of January, a level criticised as too low by the steel sector.

British steel association UK Steel has said that China accounted for more than 45 per cent of the British rebar market, up from zero four years earlier.

The Commission has 37 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place and 15 investigations ongoing into steel products.