Antidumping duty on phenol imports from 3 nations likely

The government is expected to impose anti-dumping duty of up to USD 253 per tonne on imports of phenol from Singapore, South Korea and European Union.
The move is aimed at protecting the domestic industry from cheap in-bound shipments from these countries.
Phenol is mainly used in laminates, plywood, particle boards and pharmaceuticals industry.
The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) in its investigation has concluded that phenol has been exported to India from these countries below its normal value "thus, resulting in dumping of the product".
"The authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty equal to the lesser of the margin of dumping and the margin of injury, so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry," DGAD said in a notification.

The restrictive duty recommended was in the range of USD 77.19 per tonnes to USD 253.06 per tonnes.

While DGAD recommends the duty, the Finance Ministry imposes it.
Hindustan Organic Chemicals and SI Group India Ltd on behalf of the domestic industry had filed an application for the dumping probe. They had alleged dumping of phenol originating in or exported from the European Union (EU), Singapore and South Korea.
Imports of phenol from these countries has increased to 84,112 tonnes in 2013-14 from 15,441 tonnes in 2009-10.
Countries start anti-dumping probes to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of WTO.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.
India has already imposed an anti-dumping duty on several products, to tackle cheap imports from countries, including China.