New anti-dumping duties announced in India on PVC imports

09-Apr-14

According to players in India, the government has announced the new anti-dumping duties on PVC imports following sunset investigations, as per ChemOrbis. Anti-dumping duties on PVC imports expired on January 23, 2014 and they had been suspended since then as the sunset investigation was extended several times. Players reported that the Indian government has implemented anti-dumping duties on PVC imports, with the variation in duties from the same country due to the assessment of anti-dumping duties according to individual producers. A trader commented, “We heard that PVC imports from Formosa, Hanwha, LG, Vietnam and Iran would be exempted from anti-dumping duties. The anti-dumping duties on US cargoes were lowered from US$45/ton to US$30/ton and duties on Japanese PVC were reduced from US$130/ton to US$15/ton. Meanwhile, the anti-dumping duties on Chinese PVC were raised to US$90-130/ton.” Regarding European material, the new anti-dumping duties are set as US$190/ton while imports from Ineos will be subject to duties of US$48/ton. The anti-dumping duties on US PVC imports are set as US$38/ton for Westlake Chemical and as US$119/ton for OxyChem. According to ChemOrbis, import PVC prices are holding steady in India while trading activities remain muted as buyers were taking a cautious stance towards import cargoes during the period when the anti-dumping duties were suspended. Traders confirmed that demand was slower compared with the same period of last year during the period but added that they expect to see an improvement in buying interest now that the government has made an official announcement on the subject. However, general elections will be held in India between April 7 and May 12 which will also influence demand conditions.