China is to impose anti-dumping duties on styrene imports from Taiwan, South Korea and the US over the next five years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.
The compound is widely used in the production of other chemicals, including expandable polystyrene, unsaturated polyester resin and styrene-butadiene rubber, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said in a statement.
Taiwan was China’s fourth-largest source of styrene imports last year, with sales of US$288 million and shipments totaling 233,199 tonnes, accounting for nearly 7 percent of the Chinese market, the bureau said, citing Chinese General Administration of Customs data.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC, 台化) would face a duty of 3.8 percent, while other Taiwanese styrene suppliers — including Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corp (TSM, 台苯) and Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp (國喬石化) — would be subject to a duty of 4.2 percent, the bureau said, citing the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
FCFC said the tariff would have a limited impact on its business, as its styrene monomer exports to China are mostly used by its Chinese subsidiaries to manufacture polystyrene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene products.
The tariffs are not expected to put much pressure on Grand Pacific and TSM, as they do not directly sell their styrene products to the Chinese market, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday.
The anti-dumping duties on Taiwanese styrene exporters are lower than those of their South Korean counterparts, which range from 6.2 percent to 7.5 percent, and of US exporters, which range from 13.7 percent to 55.7 percent.
The duties take effect today, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.
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