The government has decided to impose a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of phenol from the European Union, Singapore and South Africa. The investigation was launched in response to a petition filed by Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd, a public sector company up for disinvestment that produces almost 47 per cent of the phenol produced in India.
While a duty of $109.49 per tonne has been imposed on imports from the European Union, a duty of $161.38 per tonne has been imposed on imports of the product from Singapore. A duty of $222.74 per tonne has been imposed on bulk sales of phenol from South Africa, while a $130.60 per tonne duty has been imposed on drum sales from the country to India.
The government has also decided to impose company specific anti-dumping duties. While a provisional duty of $95.77 per tonne has been imposed on imports of Mitsui & Co, a duty of $101.62 per tonne has been imposed on imports of Mitsui Phenol Singapore Pte Ltd. In case of Merisol RSA, a South African company, a provisional duty of $89.12 per tonne has been imposed on bulk sales and of $24.76 per tonne on drum sales from the company.
Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, has widespread use in industries manufacturing PF Resins, drugs and pharmaceuticals, pesticides and insecticides.
There are only three producers of phenol in India. Other than HOCL, the petitioner, Herdillia Chemicals and Neyveli Lignite Corporation produce phenol.
The petitioner had complained that the producer in Singapore was exporting the commodity to India at a price that was significantly different from the export price for other countries.
The designate authority determined that the dumping margin on imports from the EU was 97.72 per cent of the export price and on imports from Singapore was 53.42 per cent of the export price. The margin on imports from Mitsui & Co was determined to be 28.5 per cent of the export price and on imports from Mitsui Phenol, it was 8.76 per cent. In case of Merisol, the dumping margin was found to be 42.24 per cent of bulk sale price and 36.48 per cent of drum sale price. In case of other companies exporting from South Africa, the margin was 102.32 per cent for bulk sales and 62.40 per cent for drum sales.
