India's imports of dioctyl phthalate are likely to fall if antidumping duties are imposed on material from Taiwan and South Korea, market sources said this week.
On June 1, the country's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties, or DGAD, issued a notice on the investigation and potential imposition of antidumping duties on DOP imports from Taiwan and South Korea.
India currently levies an import tariff of 7.5% on DOP from Taiwan and about 5% on imports from South Korea, sources said.
Last year, India imported about 7,000 mt of DOP from Taiwan, and around 56,000 mt from South Korea, according to market sources.
In comparison, India's domestic DOP production is about 300,000 mt/year, according to an India-based industry source.
Export opportunities into India would increase for ADD-exempt suppliers in Southeast Asia as they would be able to achieve better netbacks from the Indian market, industry sources said.
Moreover, this potential fall in supply from Taiwan and South Korea could be offset by ADD-exempt suppliers in Southeast Asia.
"If there is ADD levied on the imports, we will probably not offer to India for the time being," said a Taiwan-based producer.
Asian DOP was last assessed at $1,030/mt CFR Southeast Asia on a dutiable basis on June 1, S&P Global Platts data showed.
DOP is a colorless liquid used as a plasticizer in manufacturing of articles made of polyvinyl chloride.
India had initiated the investigation on possible dumping of DOP in April 2016, with the government acting on the petition filed by domestic producer KLJ Plasticizers Ltd.
KLJ Plasticizers accounts for beyond 50% of Indian DOP production, according to the notice. It had filed a petition against PCL Oil and Payal Polymers for increased imports of DOP, which was causing serious injury to domestic producers.
Imports made by the two companies account for 2.3% of total imports, 2.1% of production and 1.1% of demand. These imports were used as input for production of other products.
The probe covers the period from April 2016 to March 2017.
