InterviewGPCA may petition WTO if India levies ADD on Saudi PP

18 August 2010 04:36  [Source: ICIS news]

By Yu Guo

DUBAI (ICIS)--The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) may petition the World Trade Organization (WTO) should India levy antidumping duties on exports of polypropylene (PP) from the Gulf region, the GPCA’s secretary-general said late on Tuesday.

The GPCA has protested against India’s rejection of the Saudi pricing mechanism for propane used to manufacture PP and its move to impose antidumping duties on PP supplies from Oman and Saudi Arabia.

“Feedstock pricing discussions and debates were extensive during Saudi Arabia’s 2005 entrance into the WTO, and it was approved and considered legitimate,” said Abdulwahab al-Sadoun, who heads the premier association of petrochemical producers in the Gulf region.

“In our opinion, [India’s antidumping recommendation] is baseless,” he told ICIS in an interview.

“The pricing of feedstock, including propane, is based on actual production costs, and it is a natural advantage for the region, not a subsidy,” said Al-Sadoun.

The current pricing mechanism allows producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to factor in advantages, including costs of distribution and storage, he added.

“I am optimistic that it is still in the best interest of our economy to see free trade flow among countries, as this will enhance economical development within the global dimension,” said Al-Sadoun, adding that India's protectionist attitude is “counter-productive”.

“As specific countries adopted some protectionist attitudes, [it] will stimulate injured companies, or the injured industry, to push for a trade war, and retaliation will be considered,” said Al-Sadoun.

“If [the imposition of fresh duties] is endorsed and enforced, there will be a violation of WTO rules [and the] platform for settling such a dispute will be the WTO,” he said.

India is expected to announce final anti-dumping duties after reviewing responses by the affected producers, which were submitted earlier this month.

Indian investigations into dumping of PP by Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Oman which were initiated in March 2009 and provisional duties, ranging from $44.40 (€34) to $1,033.65/tonne were announced in July 2009.

India is also carrying out an investigation on dumping of PP by producers from South Korea, Taiwan and the US.

For more on polypropylene visit ICIS chemical intelligence
Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s Asian Chemical Connections blog
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By: Yu Guo
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