EU imposes s-PVC anti-dumping duties on Egypt, US

The European Commission has proposed provisional anti-dumping duties on US and Egyptian- origin s-PVC imports following an investigation.

The proposed duties are significant, ranging from 74.2pc to 100.1pc depending on the supplier, and would be applied to the cif import price before customs duties, effectively blocking most imports originating from the two countries. Interested parties have three working days to respond to the pre-disclosure information. The latest date for the commission to implement the provisional measures is 12 July.

The EU imported an average of 20,000 t/month of PVC from the US and 4,000 t/month from Egypt in the first three months of this year, out of total imports averaging 52,000 t/month. S-PVC accounts for around 90pc of total imports, according to the original complaint that triggered the investigation.

The trade complaint was initiated by three European producers which representing nearly half of EU production — Inovyn, Kem One and Vynova. Under their own analysis, the companies estimate a dumping margin of 40-59pc for US-origin s-PVC and 45pc for Egyptian-origin s-PVC between 1 October 2022 and 30 September 2023.

The period in question was when the global PVC market was under significant pressure from weak demand. Other countries have initiated investigations covering the same or similar periods for a variety of exporting countries.

A similar trade-remedy investigation on s-PVC imports from the US is underway in the UK. India recently implemented anti-dumping duties on e-PVC imports from China, South Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Taiwan and Thailand. India has also launched an investigation into dumping from China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the US during October 2022 to September 2023.

Protectionist trade initiatives are on the rise in global chemical markets as weak demand and, in some cases, rising capacity have heaped pressure on many existing producers. Producers, particularly in Europe, have noted the burden of investment needed to meet EU sustainability and decarbonisation targets. In April, the European Commission imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from China.

By George Barsted and Alex Sands

Europe and US PVC prices $/t

EU-27 s-PVC imports 000t