By Malini Hariharan
India’s long-running investigation into dumping of polypropylene (PP) from Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Oman is inching to a close. Final anti-dumping duties (ADD) are expected to be announced soon, say industry sources.
Affected producers have made their case but are unlikely to escape from ADD. Provisional duties, ranging from $44.40 to $1033.65/tonne, were announced in July 2009.
Some industry sources say that while the upper limit is likely to be brought down, duties would be extended to all Saudi producers. Interestingly, the Indian government is said to have examined the discount that Saudi Arabia offers on feedstock propane supplies while formulating final duties on PP exports from the Kingdom.
After completion of this case, Indian officials are expected to focus on investigating another claim of PP dumping, this time by producers from South Korea, Taiwan and the US.
Meanwhile, Indian polyolefin demand remains firm and is projected to have grown by around 5% in the last quarter. The number could have been higher but falling prices dampened buying activity in the last couple of months.
And sentiment continues to be weak with market players uncertain if the bottom has been reached.