• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Dumping duty on sodium ferrocyanide recommended

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Jan. 4

THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has recommended imposition of preliminary anti-dumping duty on imported sodium ferrocyanide from the European Union.

After a preliminary probe, the Authority held that sodium ferrocyanide of EU origin has been exported to India below its normal value and the Indian industry has suffered material injury. Accordingly, the Authority recommends that provisional anti-dumpin g duty be imposed and the recommended interim anti-

dumping duty is the difference between $1,535 and landed price of import per metric tonne.

Sodium ferrocyanide is an inorganic chemical and is manufactured out of sodium cyanide with application for production of fencycine, pigments, photographic fixing agents in electroplating industry, for fermentation processes of fruits acids and pharmaceu tical/chemical industry.

The petition has been filed by Cyanides and Chemicals Co (a unit of Hindustan Development Corporation) and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd who together account for more than 80 per cent of the total Indian production.

The Authority pointed out that the import of sodium ferrocyanide from EU were nil till 1998 which have risen to 200 metric tonnes in 1999, signifying a very sharp spurt in imports in the total market size of roughly 900 metric tonnes.

The market share of imports from the EU area in sodium ferrocyanide in India has also increased from nil to roughly 30 per cent of total domestic demand in 1999.

The substantial imports from EU at dumped prices forced the domestic industry to keep its selling price at unremunerative level which led to a situation of price undercutting in the domestic market.

The Authority noted that prior to 1999 there had been substantial imports from China despite the anti-dumping duty being in place for this subject goods since August 1996. On account of this persistent dumping, the Designated Authority in the mid-term r eview of anti-dumping duties against China issued a finding on July 11, 2000 recommending enhanced anti-dumping duty to $615 per metric tonne on all imports of sodium ferrocyanide into India originating or exported from China.

However, the Authority found that the decline in imports from China has been more than matched by increased imports from EU resulting in continued price suppression and financial losses for the domestic industry. Hence the contention of the exporter that imports from EU have not caused material injury to the domestic industry is not correct, the Authority averred.