WTO rules EU anti-dumping duties on Russian AN unlawful

LONDON (ICIS)–The World Trade Organization (WTO) has found that anti-dumping duties (ADD) applied on Russian ammonium nitrate (AN) by the EU were unlawful.

The WTO reviewed a complaint by Russia filed in 2015 and ruled the cost adjustment methodology regarding prices for energy inputs used by the EU was unlawful.

According to the ruling, the EU took into account European prices for gas and electricity when calculating the costs of Russian companies for the production of AN.

Accusations of dumping against Russian manufacturers were based on deliberately inflated cost estimates.

The EU has been applying ADD on imports of Russian AN for over 20 years.

The 27-country bloc last revised the size of the duty in 2018, set at the time at $32.71/tonne for all Russian suppliers.

AN out of the Baltic is currently framed at $157-160/tonne FOB (free on board).

Demand for Russian tonnes has been healthy during the past months from Brazil, Argentina and other parts of Latin America.

“We are pleased that the panel has agreed with Russia’s arguments regarding the unlawful nature of cost adjustments for energy inputs, which have long been used by the EU and a number of WTO member states to accuse Russia’s mineral fertilizer producers of dumping,” said the head at the Russian Fertilizers Producers Association (RFPA), Andrey Guryev, who is also the CEO of fertilizers major PhosAgro.