Ukraine has closed its anti-dumping investigation into imports of suspension PVC from the US without imposing any duties, the interagency commission for international trade said in a report published by the government's official Uriadoviy Kurier newspaper.
The commission, which conducted the investigation covering the imports of PVC-S from the third quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2012, said the imports from the US amounted to dumping.
The commission also said KarpatNaftoKhim, Ukraine's only producer of PVC-S and other petrochemical products and which is owned by Russian oil company Lukoil, suffered losses selling its output domestically in the period.
Karpatneftekhim's annual PVC capacity is estimated at about 300,000 mt, higher than domestic consumption in the range of 100,000-150,000 mt.
However, Ukraine has been using cheap imports from the US as well as central and eastern Europe. KarpatNaftoKhim suspended most production in late January, citing weak demand as a key factor.
The commission found no sufficient evidence that US imports were responsible for the damage suffered by KarpatNaftoKhim.
"The commission has established that there is no sufficient evidence of a causal link between the dumped imports into Ukraine of PVC-S from the United States and the substantial damage inflicted on domestic producers," the commission said in the report.
The commission said other economic factors had inflicted "substantial harm" on KarpatNaftoKhim's economic performance, without disclosing those factors.
A PVC producer, who declined to be named, said: "From a political point of view this is a logical step because KarpatNaftoKhim can hardly restart with Russian raw material sources." A restart date is not known, the source said, adding output remained suspended.
A press spokesman at Lukoil declined to comment on the matter Tuesday.
