Europe PE producers welcome Asia import duties

05 July 2006 17:58  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European polyethylene producers on Wednesday welcomed plans by the European Commission to impose anti-dumping duties on polyethylene (PE) bag imports from China and Thailand.

 

“Where companies are shown to have been dumping, then the EC should pursue the various corrective mechanisms with full vigour,” said Philip Law, the British Plastics Federation's (BPF) director of public and industrial affairs.

 

“This will become a more important issue as the regulatory burdens on EU manufacturing increase and it faces stiffer competition on product source from regions which do not have comparable levels of regulation,” he added.

 

The British Plastics Federation's (BPF) is the leading trade association of the UK Plastics Industry, representing around 80% of total turnover.

 

According to Asian converters, the EC is likely to impose from 1 September a 10-12% duty on Chinese imports while Thai producers would pay 5-6% in punitive duty. Plans for anti-dumping duties on Asian PE bags were confirmed on Wednesday by an EU trade spokesman.

 

“This is good news for hdPE producers as cheap imports from that region was creating a problem," said a source from a major European PE manufacturer from mainland Europe. "It is very difficult to compete with such low priced imports.”

 

“Companies from that region exporting to Europe had a double advantage to produce in US dollars and sell in euros, and most producers there are in one way or another helped by their governments,” he added. 

By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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