China NBR imports to weaken further on poor auto sales, final ADDs

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) imports are likely to slow down further amid weakness in downstream automotive sector, and as its five-year antidumping duties (ADDs) on South Korean and Japanese material take effect.

Cars on display. NBR has uses in automotive components and parts, among others. (Source: Imaginechina/REX/Shutterstock)

On 8 November, spot prices fell to $2,150-2,250/tonne CIF (cost, insurance and freight) China, down by $100/tonne from the previous week, ICIS data showed.

Spot prices have shed about 10% from early October because of weak demand.

Discussions for NBR imports from South Korea have fallen to around $2,100-2,150/tonne CIF China, market sources said.

“The Chinese dealers have been hesitant to import NBR from South Korea due to the ADDs. But the NBR market has slowed down due to the weak automotive sector and ongoing US-China trade war tensions,” a South Korean rubber trader said.

September vehicles sales in China – the world’s biggest car market – fell by 11.6% year on year to 2.39m units, falling for the third straight month and registering its largest decline in seven years, data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

The final ADDs on NBR imports from South Korea and Japan came as no surprise to market players since China has been collecting antidumping deposits them since 16 July.

But the measure will still impact buying sentiment and exert downward pressure on spot NBR prices.

Compared with the deposit rates, the ADD rates for South Korean producers were unchanged, while those for Japan’s Zeon and JSR were reduced from 30% and 18.1%, respectively.

South Korean producers	China final NBR ADD rates
Kumho Petrochemical	12.0%
LG Chem	15.0%
All others	37.3%
Japanese producers
Zeon Corp	28.1%
JSR Corp	16%
All others	56.4%

The final ADDs will be in place for five years from 9 November.

“The market players have already considered this anti-dumping rate since July when a deposit was needed for imports from South Korea and Japan. Thus, this final result does not bring much to the market today,” a Chinese trader said.

Focus article by Helen Yan

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