Indian government finalises ADD on PP imports - sources

24 August 2010 11:51  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The Indian government has finalised the anti-dumping (ADD) duties it will impose on polypropylene (PP) imports from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore, sources close to Indian producers said on Tuesday.

The official announcement was expected to be made on Wednesday, they said.

One of the sources said the final ADD would be in line with the provisional duties announced in a government notification in July 2009, but would be applicable from January 2010. The provisional duties range from $44.40 to $1,033.65/tonne.

Other sources, however, were unclear about the specific ADD amounts finalised by the government.

“Indian producers who petitioned the government to impose ADD on imports from these countries, especially Saudi Arabia, are very happy with the government’s final action,” said a second source.

But the basis for slapping the ADD was in question, sources from the affected producers said.

“If the Indian government holds on to its ruling that the Saudi formula for pricing propane (a feedstock for PP) provides an unfair advantage over local producers, this could set a very dangerous precedent,” said one of the sources.

What was worrying was that the same principle could be adopted by other countries such as China, Turkey and Europe to prevent access by Saudi PP producers to these markets, he said.

India’s commerce ministry had said in a disclosure statement released last month that the advantage was “entirely on account of the Saudi government intervention of maintaining dual prices for domestic consumption and exports”.

Sources close to the affected Saudi PP producers, which include Advanced Polypropylene Co, Saudi Polyolefins Co, SABIC and its affiliates said that the companies would lobby the Saudi government to raise the issue at a diplomatic level with India, and if that failed, the producers would seek help from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to settle the dispute.

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By: Prema Viswanathan
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