The European Union imposed five-year tariffs on steel tube fittings from Russia and Turkey to curb competition for EU producers including Italy’s Virgilio Cena & Figli SpA.
The duties as high as 23.8% punish Russian and Turkish exporters of the fittings, which are used to join tubes or pipes mainly in the petrochemical, energy, construction and shipbuilding industries, for selling in the 27 nation EU below cost. That practice is known as dumping.
European manufacturers that also include Erne Fittings GmbH of Austria suffered “material injury” as a result of dumped imports from Russia and Turkey, the EU said in a decision made yesterday in Brussels and due to enter into force after publication in the bloc’s Official Journal on January 29.
The five year duties follow provisional anti dumping levies introduced six months ago and confirm those rates of 23.8% on Russian exporters and as high as 16.7% on Turkish exporters. Sardogan Endustri ve Ticaret faces a 2.9% duty, RSA Tesisat Malzemeleri San ve Ticaret AS a 9.6% levy and Unifit Boru Baglanti Elem. End. Mam. San. ve Tic. AS a 12.1% tax, while all other Turkish exporters are subject to a 16.7% rate.
Russian and Turkish exporters increased their combined share of the EU market for steel tube fittings to 5% in the 12 months through September 2011 from 2% in 2008.
Source – Bloomberg