Council Regulation (EC) No 1592/2000 of 17 July 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 584/96 with regard to the imposition of anti-dumping measures applicable to certain tube and pipe fittings, of iron or steel, originating in the People's Republic of China, Croatia and Thailand
Date: 2000-07-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: China, Croatia, Thailand, anti-dumping measure, import, piping

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1592/2000

of 17 July 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 584/96 with regard to the imposition of anti-dumping measures
applicable to certain tube and pipe fittings, of iron or steel, originating in the People's Republic of
China, Croatia and Thailand

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22
December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from
countries not members of the European Community (1), and in
particular Article 9 and Article 11 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission
after consulting the Advisory Committee,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

A. PROCEDURE

1. Previous investigation

Anti-dumping measures were imposed on imports of
certain tube or pipe fittings of iron or steel, originating
in the People's Republic of China, Croatia and Thailand
by Regulation (EC) No 584/96 (2), with the exception of
imports
from certain Thai and Croatian producers
including the applicant in this case from which under-
takings were accepted by Commission Decision 96/252/
EC (3).

2. Present investigation

2.1. Request for review

lodged a request

On 24 February 1999, Thai Benkan Co. Ltd, a Thai
exporting producer of the product concerned (herein-
referred to as ‘the applicant’) and its related
after
importer BKL Fittings Ltd,
for an
interim review of the anti-dumping measures (i.e. under-
taking) applicable to them. This was limited in scope to
the examination of dumping, pursuant to Article 11(3)
of Regulation (EC) No 384/96 (hereinafter referred to as
‘the Basic Regulation’). In the request it was alleged that
circumstances had changed to an extent that dumping
was no longer taking place and that therefore the meas-
ures, insofar as they apply to the applicant, should be
repealed.

(1) OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 905/98 (OJ L 128, 30.4.1998, p. 18).

(2) OJ L 84, 3.4.1996, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 84, 3.4.1996, p. 46.

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

after

Having determined,
consultation within the
Advisory Committee, that sufficient evidence existed for
the initiation of an interim review,
the Commission
published a notice of initiation (4) and commenced an
investigation.

2.2. Parties concerned by the investigation

The Commission officially advised the representatives of
the exporting country of the initiation of the interim
review and gave all the parties directly concerned the
opportunity to make their views known in writing and
to request a hearing.

The Commission sent questionnaires and received
detailed information from the Thai exporting producer
concerned as well as from its related parties.

The Commission sought and verified all
information
they deemed necessary for the purposes of a deter-
mination of dumping and carried out investigations at
the premises of the following companies:

— Thai Benkan Co. Ltd, Samutprakarn, Thailand
— Benkan Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.

2.3. Period of investigation

(7)

The period of
investigation of dumping covered the
period from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 1999 (hereinafter
referred to as ‘IP’).

B. PRODUCT UNDER CONSIDERATION AND LIKE

PRODUCT

1. Product description

(8)

(not

The product under consideration is, as defined in the
original investigation, tube or pipe fittings (other than
cast fittings, flanges and threaded fittings), of iron or
steel
including stainless steel), with a greatest
external diameter not exceeding 609,6 mm, of a kind
used for butt-welding or other purposes, originating in
Thailand and currently classifiable within CN codes
7307 93 11*90),
ex 7307 93 11
7307 93 19*90),
ex 7307 93 19
ex 7307 99 30 (TARIC code 7307 99 30*91)
and
ex 7307 99 90 (TARIC code 7307 99 90*91).

(TARIC
(TARIC

code
code

(4) OJ C 208, 22.7.1999, p. 19.

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2. Like product

2. Export prices

(9)

As in the previous investigation, this investigation has
shown that the tube or pipe fittings, of iron and steel,
produced in Thailand by Thai Benkan Co. Ltd, those sold
on that market and those exported by the Thai
exporting producer to the Community have the same
basic physical and chemical characteristics and have the
same uses, and that therefore, are to be considered a like
product within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the Basic
Regulation.

(14) As all the export sales were made to a related importer,
the export price was constructed pursuant to Article 2(9)
of the Basic Regulation, namely on the basis of the price
at which the imported products were first resold to an
independent buyer in the Community.

(15) Adjustments were made for all costs incurred between
importation and resale and for profits accruing, in order
to establish a reliable export price. On the basis of the
information available, this profit was set at 10 %, a level
considered reasonable for the product concerned.

C. DUMPING CALCULATION

3. Comparison

1. Normal value

(10) As

the determination of normal value
is
far as
concerned,
the Commission services first established
whether this exporting producer's total domestic sales of
the product concerned were representative in compar-
ison with its total export sales to the Community. In
accordance with Article 2(2) of the Basic Regulation,
domestic sales were considered representative when the
total domestic sales volume of the exporting producer
was at least 5 % of its total export sales volume to the
Community.

(11)

For each of the types sold by the exporting producer on
its domestic market and found to be directly comparable
to the types sold for export to the Community, it was
examined whether domestic sales were sufficiently
representative for the purposes of Article 2(2) of the
Basic Regulation. This was considered to be the case
when, during the IP, the total domestic sales volume of a
type represented 5 % or more of the total sales volume
of the same type exported to the Community.

(12) On this basis, it was found that domestic sales, overall
and by type, were made in sufficient quantities.

(13) An examination was also made as to whether the
domestic sales of each type could be regarded as having
been made in the ordinary course of trade, by estab-
lishing the proportion of profitable sales to independent
customers of the type in question. In cases where profit-
able sales of a type represented 80 % or more of the
total domestic sales volume of that type, normal value
was based on a weighted average price of all domestic
sales made during the IP. In cases where the volume of
profitable sales of a type represented less than 80 % but
more than 10 % of the total domestic sales volume of
that type, normal value was based on a weighted average
of profitable sales only.

(16)

(17)

(18)

The comparison was made on an ex-factory basis and at
the same level of trade. For the purpose of ensuring a
fair comparison, account was taken, in accordance with
Article 2(10) of the Basic Regulation, of differences in
factors which were claimed and demonstrated to affect
prices and price comparability, i.e. transport, handling,
customs duties,
indirect taxes, commission and credit
expenses.

4. Dumping margin

The weighted average normal value was compared to
the weighted average export price of all export transac-
tions to the Community,
in accordance with Article
2(11) of the Basic Regulation.

The comparaison as described above showed the exis-
tence of no dumping for Thai Benkan Co. Ltd. In fact, all
export prices were
than the
domestic prices, when compared at ex works level.

considerably higher

D. LASTING NATURE OF CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES

(19)

In accordance with Article 11(3) of the Basic Regulation,
the Commission also examined whether the changed
circumstances could reasonably be said to be of a lasting
nature. In this respect,

it was found that:

— a much higher export price was computed in this
investigation as compared to the previous invest-
igation where estimated data had to be used. This
combined with a general increase in export prices
in the
resulting from a rise in market prices
Community were found to constitute very significant
changed circumstances;

— the exporting producer's output had increased by
approximately 50 % as compared to the original
investigation period while raw material costs had
fallen significantly. These led to a significant fall in
production costs and a lesser but related fall
in
domestic prices which again, at least partly, can be
considered as a lasting change;

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— the Thai baht has fallen significantly in value and this
had reduced the dumping margin on these imports
for the IP. However, there has been some re-appre-
ciation of the currency since which indicated that the
currency movement may not prove lasting.

E. CONCLUSION

The investigation of dumping for the IP has found
dumping to have stopped for a number of reasons,
in normal values and an increase in
including a fall
export prices and some of these changes are considered
to be of a lasting nature. This is particularly the case in
respect of the re-calculation of the export price using
in normal value,
actual data and to a degree the fall
changes which on their own result in no dumping.

F. REPEAL OF MEASURES

In view of the findings of no dumping as well as the
lasting nature of changed circumstances, measures
imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No 584/96 on
exports of the Thai company Thai Benkan Co. Ltd, —
from which an undertaking was accepted by Commis-
sion Decision 96/252/EC — should be repealed by
amending that Regulation accordingly.

(20)

(21)

(22) However, since the repeal of the measures proposed
only concerns one individual exporter, and not Thailand
as a whole, the export as a whole, the export Thai
Benkan Co. Ltd remains subject to the proceeding and
may be reinvestigated in any subsequent review carried
out for Thailand pursuant to Article 11 of the Basic
Regulation.

(23)

The Commission informed the Thai company concerned
as well as the other parties concerned of the facts and
considerations on the basis of which it was intended to
propose the repeal of the measures. No comments were
received,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 584/96 shall be replaced by
the following:

‘The rate of duty applicable to the net, free-at-Community-
frontier price, before duty, shall be as follows:

People's Republic of China

Croatia

Thailand
Except:
Thai Benkan Co. Ltd,
Prapadaeng Samutprakarn

Rate of duty

TARIC additional
code

58,6 %

38,4 %

58,9 %

—

8881

8851

0 %

A118

with the exception of imports of the products concerned
to the
which are manufactured and sold for export
Community by the following companies
from which
undertakings have been accepted:

— Croatia (TARIC additional code 8 880)

— Zeljezara Sisak, Zagreb

— Thailand (TARIC additional code 8850)

— Awaji Sangyo (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Samutprakarn
— TTU Industrial Corp. Ltd., Bangkok.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communi-
ties.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 17 July 2000.

For the Council

The President

J. GLAVANY