The Australian Anti-Dumping Commission on June 25 announced that it has initiated an investigation following an application lodged by ammonium nitrate producers Orica Australia Pty Ltd., CSBP Ltd., and Queensland Nitrates Pty Ltd. It seeks a dumping duty notice with respect to AN exported to Australia from China, Sweden, and Thailand.
The Commission said the investigation period is April 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018. However, it will examine details of the Australian market from April 1, 2014, for injury analysis purposes. The goods are for ammonium nitrate – prilled, granular, or in other solid form – with or without additives or coatings, in packages exceeding 10kg.
Orica welcomed the investigation. “Recent oversupply in global markets has led to offshore manufacturers dumping excess product in Australia at prices well below the prices they charge in their own markets, and in some cases, below the cost of manufacture,” said CEO Alberto Calderon. “We are for free trade, but also for fair trade.
“We recognize the important role imports play in providing customers with diversity of supply and competition. We just want to see the rules of the World Trade Organization and Australian legislation enforced,” continued Calderon.
“The Federal Government has previously taken measures to ensure Russian imports of ammonium nitrate are fairly priced, and Russian imports have continued to be an important source of domestic supply,” he added. “We are now seeing imports from China, Sweden, and Thailand being sold at prices well below the measures established for the Russian imports.”
Orica said dumped imports from China, Sweden, and Thailand have increased since 2015, displacing imports from other source countries, to comprise almost 50 percent of total import volumes in 2017.
Orica said it has provided the Commission with evidence of product sold into Australia at prices estimated to be between 17-44 percent below what the price would have been had the World Trade Organization rules been observed.
“We need to address this now,” said Calderon. “The proportion of dumped product is increasing, and if it’s not addressed now, it’s going to have a real impact on the medium- to long-term viability of this industry and put Australian jobs at risk.”
In other news on June 25, the Commission reported that Nitro Sibir Australia, an importer, has applied for an exemption for current anti-dumping measure against Russian AN, either shipped directly or via Estonia. High-density AN is subject to that measure, which was put in place in 2001 and renewed in 2016 for a five-year period. The Commission said it will continue with an inquiry on this exemption and make a recommendation.