India likely to decide on caustic soda safeguard duty in 2010

16 December 2009 07:57  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The Indian government is likely to decide on a safeguard duty on caustic soda imports by the end of February 2010, sources familiar with the process said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Finance held a public hearing on the case on 8 December this year, after the local chlor-alkali association filed a petition in July.

Caustic soda producers involved in the case have until 31 December 2009 to submit their arguments in writing, industry sources said.

The ministry would release their final findings thereafter and was likely to make a final decision on the matter by the end of February, sources added.

A provisional 15% safeguard duty was imposed on 4 December this year until 3 March 2010, sources said.

The ministry had earlier recommended a 20% duty on liquid caustic soda imports for a period of 200 days.

The safeguard duty, if imposed, would affect major exporters including Europe, China, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and the US.

India imported 43,164 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of caustic soda in July this year, compared with 2,082 dmt in the same period last year.

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By: Ng Hun Wei
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