Celanese Initiates Anti

Stephen Moore | May 28, 2020

Celanese Corporation has filed a petition with the European Commission's Directorate-General For Trade seeking anti-Dumping duties on imports of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) from Korea Petrochemical Industry Co., Ltd. (KPIC) of Seoul, South Korea, into the European Union.

"After successfully filing an anti-dumping case in the U.S., which the U.S. authorities voted unanimously to continue an investigation into, and in order to further ensure Celanese is able to operate in fair and sustainable industry conditions globally, we were compelled to also file an anti-dumping case against KPIC in Europe to address their destructive pricing practices in that region which have caused Celanese's UHMWPE business to suffer significantly over the last several years since KPIC began selling in the region," said Tom Kelly, Senior Vice President of the Engineered Materials business of Celanese. "Fair and sustainable pricing on a global basis is important for the health of every industry, and in the long term, this will lead to increased supply availability in the marketplace and to broader choices for our customers; and therefore, we believe it is our obligation to address these inequities through actions such as anti-dumping duties when they arise."

GUR, the Celanese trade name for its UHMWPE product, is a core business and growing market and the company will continue to support market growth of this product by investing in its global manufacturing capabilities. With its unique quality, global manufacturing network, and decades of experience producing GUR, Celanese is highly committed to this business across all market segments and regions. Celanese values the long-term, strategic customer relationships it maintains in the European region, but the market requires a fair and sustainable price level to support these customers long term.

UHMWPE is used in a wide array of applications in multiple industries, including construction, agriculture, material handling, transportation, textiles, pulp and paper, food and beverage, mining, marine, plastics, oil and gas, high performance fibers, battery separators, and wastewater treatment.

Under European law, a domestic industry can petition the government to initiate an anti-dumping investigation into the pricing of an imported product to determine whether it is sold at less than fair value (i.e., dumped). Additional duties can be imposed if the European Commission determines that imported goods are "dumped" and further determines that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with such injury by reason of subject imports.

If the European Commission makes preliminary affirmative determinations, European importers will be required to pay provisional anti-dumping duties in the amount of the anti-dumping duty for all entries on or after the date the European Commission preliminary determination is published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The preliminary anti-dumping rates can change in the European Commission's final determination, especially if foreign producers participate fully in the investigation.

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