The Hindu Business Line : Anti-dumping duty on rubber chemicals mooted

THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has recommended imposition of provisional anti-dumping duty on imported rubber chemicals such as MOR, PX 13 and TDQ, which are extensively used in treating natural rubber, synthetic rubber and synthetic rubber-based compounds for manufacture of various rubber-based products.

The import of these chemicals from the European Union, the US, China and Chinese Taipei would be subject to anti-dumping duty once the revenue department follows this up with notification.

Following a written petition from National Organic Chemicals Ltd, on behalf of the domestic industry which alleged that dumping of the subject goods is so extensive that two major producers, Bayer India and ICI India, had exited from manufacture of the products and turned traders by resorting to imports from some of the subject countries, the authority held a preliminary probe.

After the probe, the authority said the subject goods have entered the Indian market from the subject countries at prices less than their normal values in the domestic markets of the exporting countries.

Again, the dumping margin of the subject goods from the subject countries are substantial and above de minimus.

As a result, the domestic industry suffered material injury in terms of loss of market share, low capacity utilisation and profitability. Hence, the authority deemed it necessary and recommended provisional anti-dumping duty.

Thus, for rubber chemical PX 13, the anti-dumping duty for the firm Flexys NV, Belgium, is $501 per tonne. For Lanxess GmbH, Germany, it is $590.

The other firms exporting from the European Union to India have to fork out an anti-dumping duty of $706 per tonne. For firms from Taiwan, the anti-dumping duty recommended is $740.

For rubber chemical MOR, the anti-dumping duty for Lanxess NV, Belgium is $350. For other firms from the EU exporting the subject goods to India, the recommended anti-dumping duty is $490.

In the case of firms exporting from the US, the anti-dumping duty is $510 per tonne, while firms from China have to shell out $450.

For rubber chemical TDQ, the recommended anti-dumping duty in the case of General Qumica of Spain is $295 per tonne, while for others exporting from the EU, it is $327. In the case of firms exporting from Taiwan, the recommended anti-dumping duty is $270.

Highlighting its injury analysis, the authority noted that in the case of rubber chemical MOR, there is a substantial increase in domestic demand, and the sales of the domestic industry shows significant increase in absolute volume terms.

But the domestic industry has lost considerable market share to the dumped imports, which had more than doubled.

In the case of rubber chemical PX 13, while the demand for the product has increased only 38 per cent, the dumped imports have increased almost 200 per cent and the sales of domestic industry have increased only 22 per centIn the case of TDQ, imports increased over the probe period in absolute terms by 150 per cent, whereas the dumped imports rose by 166 per cent.

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