China's Ministry of Commerce on June 23, has started antidumping investigations on styrene monomer imports from South Korea, Taiwan and the US, following a recent petition filed by Chinese SM producers, the ministry said in a statement Friday.
The investigations came on the heels of a notice sent to South Korea's embassy in Beijing dated June 12, S&P Global Platts reported previously.
The petition was filed collectively on May 25 by six Chinese SM producers, namely Changzhou Donghao Chemical, Tianjin Dagu Chemical, Jiangsu Leasty Chemical, New Solar, Ningbo Keyuan Plastic and Shandong Shengyuan Petrochemical.
They are further supported by six other major private and state enterprises including PetroChina Daqing Petrochemical, PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical, Shandong Heze Yuhuang Chemical and Shanghai Secco Petrochemical.
The statement acknowledged that the six producers as well as the six companies supporting the petition collectively produced more than 50% of China's total SM output in each of the last four years starting 2013, and hence the petition is legitimate and congruent with China's current antidumping guidelines.
The investigations, covering SM imports from South Korea, Taiwan and the US over January 1-December 31, 2016, are expected to be concluded before June 23, 2018 but may be extended to December 23, 2018 under special circumstances, the statement added.
The spread between CFR China SM prices and domestic cargoes on an ex-tank import parity basis stood at an average of $4.90/mt in 2016, while year-to-date average in 2017 has widened to $42.62/mt, Platts data showed.
China imported 3.5 million mt of SM last year, of which 1.23 million, or 35%, came from South Korea -- making it the largest SM supplier to China, according to Chinese customs data.
Meanwhile, China's total SM demand has gradually increased from 8.49 million mt in 2013 to 9.1 million mt in 2016, at an average annual growth rate of 2.38%.
China's domestic styrene monomer production is currently about 8.39 million mt/year, according to industry sources, and is expected to rise by 2.3 million mt/year to 10.7 million mt/year by 2019.
New capacity coming on stream later this year includes Qingdao Soda Ash's 500,000 mt/year SM line and Ningbo Keyuan's expansion by 100,000 mt/year to 150,000 mt/year.
The Asian SM CFR China marker was assessed at $1,108.50/mt Friday, up $1/mt day on day amid thin discussions.
