China begins probe into halogenated rubber dumping

Beijing – China’s ministry of commerce (MOFCOM) has launched an investigation into allegations of dumping concerning halogenated butyl rubber imported to the country from the US, EU and Singapore.

In a 31 Aug statement, MOFCOM said the move was in response to an application filed by local manufacturers Zhejiang Cenway New Materials Co., Ltd. and Panjin Heyun New Materials Co., Ltd, which produce more than 50% of China’s halogenated rubber.

The anti-dumping investigation period is from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017, while an investigation into industrial damages will cover the period between 1 January 2014 to 31 March this year.

The applicants, said MOFCOM, claimed that indicators such as sale prices of the domestic industry, profit rate, return rate on investment and per-capita wage show a trend of deterioration, and that the domestic industry had “suffered substantial damages.”

There is, they claimed, “a 'casual' relationship between the dumping of the products with the investigation applied for and the substantial damages of the domestic industry.”

MOFCOM concluded that, upon examination, it believed that the application included relevant evidences required for anti-dumping investigations.