China has launched an investigation into allegations that Taiwanese exporters of styrene monomer (SM) are selling their products at unfairly low prices in China, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The ministry quoted a notice issued on Friday by Beijing as saying that the investigation was launched by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and also targets SM exporters in the US and South Korea.
SM is used in the production of a wide range of petrochemical products, such as unsaturated polyester resin, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, thermos plastic elastomer, polystyrene and styrene butadiene latex, the ministry said.
Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corp (台灣苯乙烯), Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp (國喬石化) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) are among the nation’s major SM producers, it added.
The investigation is expected to be completed on June 23 next year and is to look into whether sales of SM from Taiwan, South Korea and the US have caused material damage to Chinese companies from 2013 to last year, the ministry said.
The probe could be extended to Dec. 23 next year if necessary, the ministry said.
The ministry said it has informed Taiwanese SM producers of the probe and urged them to respond to inquiries by Chinese authorities to protect their interests.
The ministry would provide financial assistance to affected firms in seeking legal redress, and they can apply for subsidies to hire lawyers and accountants, it said.
The ministry said Taiwan was the third-largest SM supplier to China after South Korea and Saudi Arabia last year, whereas the US came in fourth.
China imported 486,524 tonnes of SM from Taiwan in 2013, 475,099 tonnes in 2014, 434,204 tonnes in 2015 and 458,954 tonnes last year, according to Chinese trade data.
The amounts made up 11.6 to 13.2 percent of the total volume imported by China, the data showed.
The value of Taiwan’s SM exports to China was US$827 million in 2013, US$750 million in 2014, US$467 million in 2015 and US$470 million last year, accounting for 11.2 to 13 percent of China’s total import value for the product, the data showed.
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