The European Union (EU) General Court has dismissed EuroChem Group AG’s suit to lift definitive antidumping duties on urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) from Russia, Interfax has reported.
The plaintiffs were EuroChem nitrogen fertilizer subsidiaries Nevinnomysskiy Azot and Novomoskovskiy Azot.
The EU imposed definitive antidumping duties on UAN imported into its member countries from Russia, the US, and Trinidad and Tobago in October 2019 (GM Oct. 11, 2019). The imposition of definitive measures followed provisional measures that were imposed in April of that year (GM April 12, 2019).
The duties were imposed for period of five years and for the two EuroChem subsidiaries amounted to €27.77/mt, and €42.47/mt for PJSC Acron and all other Russian companies except the two EuroChem companies.
The EU General Court made a similar decision with regard to an action filed by Trinidad and Tobago UAN producer Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd., appealing the antidumping duties. The duties imposed for Methanol Holdings amounted to €22.24/mt, and the same level was applied to all other Trinidad and Tobago companies.
Late last month, the European Commission reached the decision not to suspend the definitive antidumping duties on imports of mixtures of UAN originating in Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US, despite “a temporary change in market conditions.”
In the EU ‘s Official Journal, the Commission noted there is an insufficient supply of UAN currently on the EU market at affordable prices to meet the steady demand. It noted that this is mainly because imports of UAN have decreased significantly and EU producers cannot fully compensate for the lost import volumes, “because of a large increase in the cost of production,” due to the current record-high natural gas prices.
The Commission noted that as acknowledged by EU producers, under current market conditions, the EU industry is unable to produce and sell UAN at a profit, and thus a significant part of its production capacity is idle.
It reported there are also indications that suspension would aggravate further the situation of the EU industry.
“Dumped imports at low prices from the countries concerned, notably Trinidad and Tobago, would lead to further pressure on the EU industry’s prices and the ensuing risk of a price erosion on the EU market,” it said.
In reaching its decision, the Commission said “it could not conclude that market conditions had temporarily changed to an extent that injury would be unlikely to resume as a result of a suspension of the antidumping duties.”