European Commission initiates Duty Review on Graphite Electrodes Import from India

As per the latest updates, European Commission has initiated partial interim review of the anti-dumping and countervailing measures applicable on imports of graphite electrodes being imported from India.

Under this interim request, the EC will now assess the need for the continuation, removal or amendment of the existing measures.

Request for review

The request for review was lodged by Indian GE manufacturer, HEG Limited. The partial interim review is limited in scope to the examination of injury.

Existing duty

The measures currently in force are a definitive countervailing duty and antidumping duty ranging from 6.3% - 7.2% and 8.5% - 9.4% respectively imposed by European Commission on HEG Ltd and Graphite India. These measures were imposed by EC on Indian GE imports in 2004 and were last reviewed in 2017 for five years.

Review investigation period

The investigation of injury will cover the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 ('the review investigation period'). The examination of trends relevant for the assessment of injury will cover the period from 1 January 2016 to the end of the investigation period ('the period considered').

Grounds for the review

The ground on which review request has been submitted by HEG Ltd is that the circumstances on the basis of which the existing measures were reviewed in 2017 have changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature.

The company has pointed out that there is a global shortage of the graphite electrodes, which has caused a massive upward shift in global prices of graphite electrodes and in profitability of its producers, also in the EU. In particular, prices in the Europe are today around 400 % higher compared to prices at the end of 2015 (i.e. the end of the investigation period of the last expiry review). The company has even submitted a market study, in which it was concluded that prices are expected to stabilize at these high levels in the next years. Due to this price increase, HEG has alleged that the Union producers have very good profit margins and are no longer in a vulnerable situation.