The Hindu Business Line : Dumping duty proposed on saccharin from China

The selling price had been showing a declining trend but the decline in selling price is more pronounced compared to the decline in cost of production.

New Delhi , April 17

The Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has recommended imposition of provisional anti-dumping duty on imported saccharin from China.

Saccharin is used in a host of industry such as food and beverage, personal care products, tabletop sweeteners, electroplating brighteners and pharmaceuticals. Saccharin is more than 500 times sweeter than sugar.

In response to a petition filed by AS Enterprises, Mumbai, Sati Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd, Thane and Shree Vardyani Chemical Industry Co.Ltd, Gujarat, backed by the All India Saccharin Manufacturers Association, the Authority has, after a preliminary probe, held that the subject goods had been exported to India from China below its normal value and the domestic industry has suffered material injury.

Accordingly, it recommended that saccharin exported by Shanghais Fortune Chemicals Co either on its own or through its export outfit Majestic International would invite anti-dumping duty of $1643.92 a tonne. Kaifeng Xinghua Fine Chemical Factory would have to shell out $1568.19 per tonne of export of saccharin to India by way of anti-dumping duty, while Tianjin Changjie Chemical Co. Ltd should disburse $1576.97. Any other exporter from China sending saccharin to India should pay anti-dumping duty of $2770.48 a tonne, the Authority held.

Investigation period

While the period of investigation (POI) was from January 1 to December 31, 2004, the examination of trends to establish dumping and in the context of injury analysis covered the period from April 1, 2001, to March 31, 2004, and the period of investigation. The data analysed by the Authority shows that the cost of production had been declining from base year to POI. It declined to 95 per cent of the base year during POI.

The selling price had been showing a declining trend but the decline in selling price is more pronounced compared to the decline in cost of production. The selling price declined to 90 per cent of the base year during POI. The losses per unit rose by 56 per cent during POI as compared to base year. Similarly, the losses on domestic sales had been escalating and increased by 55 per cent during POI as compared to base year, while the cash losses increased by 97 per cent during POI as compared to base year.

The data indicates that the inventory of the domestic industry had been consistently rising from base year to POI by 301 per cent. Translated into number of days of sales, it was equivalent to 10 days in 2001-02 and it increased to 31 days during POI.

Even as the volume of imports from others is insignificant, imports from China were accounting for 99.7 per cent of total imports during POI, reflecting that the dumped import was contributing to the injury to the domestic industry, the Authority stated conclusively.

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