In recent years, China's polyester production capacity has entered a new round of production capacity outbreak period, and the number of foreign exports is growing, but at the same time as exports increase, anti-dumping policies and trade barriers are also increasing.
China's polyester industry is under anti-dumping investigation again
According to the news of China Trade Relief Network, on January 7, 2025, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia issued a notice to make a preliminary anti-dumping ruling on PET resin [PET Terephthalate(PET)] originating in or imported from China and Indonesia. The decision is to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on the products in question from the above countries for a period of 120 days, with rates ranging from 6.33% to 37.44%, which will take effect from January 7, 2025. The Malaysian Harmonized Tariff Code and ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Code (AHTN) of the products in question are 3907.61.00 00. The final ruling is expected to be made no later than May 6, 2025.
On August 9, 2024, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia issued a notice to the domestic production company Recron(Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd. The application, filed on July 10, 2024, initiates an anti-dumping investigation into PET resin originating in or imported from China and Indonesia.
Coincidentally, recently, Brazil once again launched an anti-dumping investigation on China's polyester fiber yarns, which is since August 18, 2023, Brazil decided to continue to suspend the polyester fiber yarns originating in China and India after the imposition of final anti-dumping duties, re-launched an anti-dumping investigation, and then Brazil launched an anti-dumping investigation on polyester fiber fabrics in China.
The polyester industry is not alone in anti-dumping investigations
In recent years, China's polyester filament industry has faced some anti-dumping policies and trade barriers in the global market. Here are some of the key events:
1. Mexico made a final anti-dumping ruling on polyester filaments from China and India in September 2021, deciding to impose an anti-dumping duty of US $0.532 / kg. But then in July 2024, Mexico decided to terminate the anti-dumping review investigation of polyester filaments originating in China and India and cancel the anti-dumping duties. Mexico currently accounts for about 8% of total filament exports.
2. Pakistan initiated anti-dumping investigation on imports of polyester filaments from China on 26 May 2024.
3. India began to implement BIS certification for the export of polyester filament in October 2023. The polyester varieties exported from China to India mainly include POY and FDY, followed by industrial silk, and these three varieties are within the product range of BIS certification. India is the largest exporter of polyester filament to China, accounting for about 13% of the current export volume, which has a greater impact on POY and FDY exports. Even if it is successfully certified, the factory also needs to bear the application fee, annual fee, sample inspection fee and other costs, which increases the export cost.
In addition to polyester filament, the United States, the European Union, Pakistan, India, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia and other countries and regions have launched anti-dumping investigations on China's polyester staple fiber. The European Union, Argentina, the United States, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, India, South Korea and other countries and regions have launched anti-dumping investigations on Chinese polyester bottle flakes.
It can be seen that the polyester industry is the hardest hit area of China's anti-dumping policy and trade barriers.
What is the impact on chemical fiber exports?
China is the largest producer of polyester in the world, and its export volume is relatively high, occupying an important position in the global market. At the same time, China's polyester industry upstream and downstream integration development process is faster, products have strong cost and price advantages, China's polyester products often enter the international market at a lower price, causing price pressure on similar products in other countries. Anti-dumping measures are often used as a means of trade protection. In order to protect domestic industries, some countries may use anti-dumping measures to increase the market cost of Chinese products and reduce their price competitiveness. Therefore, under various factors such as China's market position, trade protectionism, international trade environment, industrial policies and environmental protection regulations, anti-dumping policies against Chinese polyester products are relatively frequent.
From the perspective of polyester filament exports, filament exports have maintained positive growth in recent years. In 2020, the export growth rate was slightly lower due to the impact of the epidemic. China's filament exports increased from 1.98 million tons in 2016 to 3.99 million tons in 2023, with an average growth rate of 10.8%. From January to June 2024, filament exports totaled 1.9 million tons, a decrease of 7.4% year-on-year. The proportion of filament exports to domestic production is also steadily rising, and by 2023, filament exports will account for 10% of domestic production.
From the perspective of filament exporting countries, in 2023, India is the largest exporter of China's filament, accounting for 13%, followed by Egypt and Turkey, accounting for 11% and 10% respectively.
According to the data, in the whole of Brazil's polyester civil silk imports, the product involved is the import of DTY products occupy the mainstream level, according to the data of the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade, from January to October 2024, Brazil imported a total of 408 million US dollars of polyester civil silk, of which the product involved was imported about 330 million US dollars. It accounts for 80.78% of total imports. The main import source countries of the products involved in the case are China and India, in the past five years, the average proportion of Brazil's imports from China and India involved in the tax of the case can reach more than 97% of the level, so there is a previous round of anti-dumping investigations against Chinese and Indian products.
In the last round of anti-dumping investigations, the share of imports from India fell sharply, from an average of 33% between the beginning of 2020 and the first half of 2022 to 10% between the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2024. The share from China rose from 64% to 87%. From January to November 2024, the exports of the varieties involved to Brazil accounted for 12% of the total domestic exports, and the number of more than 200,000 tons, so if a new round of anti-dumping investigations only for Chinese products and anti-dumping tariffs are imposed, it is bound to affect China's export situation to Brazil.
(Source: China Textile Import and Export Chamber of Commerce)