China likely to cut ferro-alloys export tax -assoc

HONG KONG, March 26 (Reuters) - China is likely to cut the 20 percent export tax on ferro-chrome and ferro-manganese in the second half of this year to help domestic producers, Liu Guoqing, acting chairman of China's Ferro-alloys Association, said on Wednesday.

"The Chinese government is likely to do it in the second half. This goes hand in hand with efforts to help domestic production," he told reporters on the sidelines of a ferro-alloys conference in Hong Kong.

Liu did not say what the new tax rates might be but said the tax cut was likely to target products that use less energy and require higher technology.

China is the world's largest producer of ferro-alloys. (Reporting by Polly Yam, writing by Tom Miles)