EN Official Journal of the European Union C 159/18

Notice of initiation of a partial interim review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to imports of certain seamless tubes and pipes originating, inter alia, in Ukraine

(2018/C 159/05)

The European Commission (‘the Commission’) has received a request for review pursuant to Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Union (1) (‘the basic Regulation’).

1. Request for review

The request for review was lodged by the Interpipe group (‘the applicant’), an exporting producer group from Ukraine (‘the country concerned’).

The partial interim review is limited in scope to the examination of dumping as far as the applicant is concerned.

2. Product under review

The product under review is certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, of circular cross-section, of an external diameter not exceeding 406,4 mm with a Carbon Equivalent Value (CEV) not exceeding 0,86 according to the International Institute of Welding (IIW) formula and chemical analysis (2), currently falling within CN codes ex 7304 11 00, ex 7304 19 10, ex 7304 19 30, ex 7304 22 00, ex 7304 23 00, ex 7304 24 00, ex 7304 29 10, ex 7304 29 30, ex 7304 31 80, ex 7304 39 58, ex 7304 39 92, ex 7304 39 93, ex 7304 51 89, ex 7304 59 92 and ex 7304 59 93 (TARIC codes 7304110010, 7304191020, 7304193020, 7304220020, 7304230020, 7304240020, 7304291020, 7304293020, 7304318030, 7304395830, 7304399230, 7304399320, 7304518930, 7304599230 and 7304599320) and originating in Ukraine (‘the product concerned’).

3. Existing measures

The measures currently in force are a definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2012 (3), as amended by Implementing Regulations (EU) No 795/2012 (4) and (EU) No 1269/2012 (5).

4. Grounds for the review

The request pursuant to Article 11(3) is based on sufficient evidence, provided by the applicant, that, as far as the applicant is concerned, the circumstances on the basis of which the existing measures were imposed have changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature.

The applicant alleges that its production structure has changed. Interpipe has set up a new plant producing steel billets, which is the major raw material used in the production of the product concerned. Therefore the applicant is now a vertically-integrated group for the production and sale of the product concerned, with significant optimisations of its manufacturing process and cost.

This newly built plant has also allowed the broadening of the portfolio of steel grades and the corresponding range of product types. It enabled the applicant to start producing high-end products such as higher value-added line pipes and industry pipes. The enlargement of the product range implies an important quality change in the product types manufactured and exported by the group in comparison with the last review.

The applicant provided sufficient evidence showing that, as far as the group exporting producer is concerned, the continued imposition of the measures at its current level is no longer necessary to counteract the injurious dumping. In particular the applicant alleges that the significant changes in the production organisation and in their product range have had a direct impact both on the domestic and on the export markets. A comparison of the applicant's normal value and their export prices to the Union indicates that the dumping margin appears to be lower than the current level of the measures.

Therefore, the continued imposition of measures at the existing level, which was based on the level of dumping previously established, appears to be no longer necessary to offset dumping.

5. Procedure

Having determined, after informing the Member States that sufficient evidence exists to justify the initiation of a partial interim review limited to the examination of dumping, the Commission hereby initiates a review in accordance with Article 11(3) of the basic Regulation.

The investigation will also assess the need for the continuation, removal or amendment of the existing measures in respect of the applicant.

5.1. Questionnaires

In order to obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, the Commission will send a questionnaire to the applicant. This information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5.2. Other written submissions

Subject to the provisions of this Notice, all interested parties are hereby invited to make their views known, submit information and provide supporting evidence. Unless otherwise specified, this information and supporting evidence must reach the Commission within 37 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

5.3. Possibility to be heard by the Commission investigation services

All interested parties may request to be heard by the Commission investigation services. Any request to be heard must be made in writing and must specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within the specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties.

5.4. Instructions for making written submissions and sending completed questionnaires and correspondence

Information submitted to the Commission for the purpose of trade defence investigations shall be free from copyrights. Interested parties, before submitting to the Commission information and/or data which is subject to third party copyrights, must request specific permission to the copyright holder explicitly allowing (a) the Commission to use the information and data for the purpose of this trade defence proceeding; and (b) to provide the information and/or data to interested parties to this investigation in a form that allows them to exercise their rights of defence.

All written submissions, including the information requested in this Notice, completed questionnaires and correspondence provided by interested parties for which confidential treatment is requested shall be labelled ‘Limited’. Parties submitting information in the course of this investigation are invited to reason their request for confidential treatment.

Parties providing ‘Limited’ information are required to furnish non-confidential summaries of it pursuant to Article 19(2) of the basic Regulation, which will be labelled ‘For inspection by interested parties’. These summaries should be sufficiently detailed to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information submitted in confidence.

If a party providing confidential information fails to show good cause for a confidential treatment request or does not furnish a non-confidential summary of it in the requested format and quality, the Commission may disregard such information unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated from appropriate sources that the information is correct.

Interested parties are invited to make all submissions and requests by email including scanned powers of attorney and certification sheets, with the exception of voluminous replies which shall be submitted on a CD-R or DVD by hand or by registered mail. By using email, interested parties express their agreement with the rules applicable to electronic submissions contained in the document ‘CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN TRADE DEFENCE CASES’ published on the website of the Directorate-General for Trade: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/june/tradoc_148003.pdf The interested parties must indicate their name, address, telephone and a valid email address and they should ensure that the provided email address is a functioning official business email which is checked on a daily basis. Once contact details are provided, the Commission will communicate with interested parties by email only, unless they explicitly request to receive all documents from the Commission by another means of communication or unless the nature of the document to be sent requires the use of a registered mail. For further rules and information concerning correspondence with the Commission including principles that apply to submissions by email, interested parties should consult the communication instructions with interested parties referred to above.

Commission address for correspondence: European Commission Directorate-General for Trade Directorate H Office: CHAR 04/039 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel BELGIQUE/BELGIË Email: TRADE-R689-SPT@ec.europa.eu

6. Non-cooperation

In cases where any interested party refuses access to or does not provide the necessary information within the time limits, or significantly impedes the investigation, findings, affirmative or negative, may be made on the basis of facts available, in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation.

Where it is found that any interested party has supplied false or misleading information, the information may be disregarded and use may be made of facts available.

If an interested party does not cooperate or cooperates only partially and findings are therefore based on facts available in accordance with Article 18 of the basic Regulation, the result may be less favourable to that party than if it had cooperated.

Failure to give a computerised response shall not be deemed to constitute non-cooperation, provided that the interested party shows that presenting the response as requested would result in an unreasonable extra burden or unreasonable additional cost. The interested party should immediately contact the Commission.

7. Hearing Officer

Interested parties may request the intervention of the Hearing Officer in trade proceedings. The Hearing Officer acts as an interface between the interested parties and the Commission investigation services. The Hearing Officer reviews requests for access to the file, disputes regarding the confidentiality of documents, requests for extension of time limits and requests by third parties to be heard. The Hearing Officer may organise a hearing with an individual interested party and mediate to ensure that the interested parties' rights of defence are being fully exercised.

A request for a hearing with the Hearing Officer should be made in writing and should specify the reasons for the request. For hearings on issues pertaining to the initial stage of the investigation the request must be submitted within 15 days of the date of publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Thereafter, a request to be heard must be submitted within specific deadlines set by the Commission in its communication with the parties.

For further information and contact details interested parties may consult the Hearing Officer's web pages on DG Trade's website: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/trade-policy-and-you/contacts/hearing-officer/

8. Schedule of the investigation

The investigation will be concluded, pursuant to Article 11(5) of the basic Regulation within 15 months of the date of the publication of this Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.

9. Processing of personal data

Any personal data collected in this investigation will be treated in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (6).

(1) OJ L 176, 30.6.2016, p. 21.

(2) The CEV shall be determined in accordance with Technical Report, 1967, IIW doc. IX-535-67, published by the International Institute of Welding (IIW).

(3) OJ L 174, 4.7.2012, p. 5.

(4) OJ L 238, 4.9.2012, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 357, 28.12.2012, p. 1.

(6) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.