Mexico imposes anti-dumping duty on Chinese SBS elastomer imports

Mexico City – Mexico’s economy ministry has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty of $0.8324/kg on imports of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) thermoplastic elastomer originating in China, according to its official resolution.

The measure applies to all SBS imports from China “independently of their country of transit,” said an 11 Oct announcement in the official gazette of federation.

SBS is a synthetic thermoplastic elastomer made of alternating blocks of styrene and butadiene and is suitable for applications such as shoe soles, asphalt modifiers, adhesives, and waterproofing membranes.

The anti-dumping investigation was launched after Dynasol Elastomeros, Mexico’s only national SBS producer, filed a complaint in April last year, claiming material injury due to the dumping of the products. 

Period of investigation covered 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, while the injury period covered 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024.

In its petition, Dynasol argued that cheap Chinese imports were being sold at unfairly low prices, and thereby forcing it to lower its own prices.

Furthermore, Dynasol said it had recently invested in expanding its SBS production capacity by 14% but the increased imports had made it difficult for the local supplier to increase its production level.

According to its filing, Dynasol’s utilisation rates dropped from 88.1% to as low as 78.8% due to excessive imports.

In its investigations, the Mexican ministry found that Chinese prices were significantly lower: import prices undercutting domestic product by between 38% and 52% in some periods.

The large imports were mainly attributed to Sinopec, China’s biggest refiner which “operates the largest SBS rubber plant in that country.”

Citing market reports, the ministry said in 2023, the global SBS rubber capacity was 3.1 million tonnes, with China accounting for 57% of total production capacity, followed by Taiwan with 9%, the US and South Korea with 7% each, Japan with 5% and Spain with 4%.

The ministry concluded that this structural imbalance in capacity would likely cause further growth in Chinese shipments to Mexico if preventive measures are not taken.

The duty will remain in place for five years, subject to review.