CELEX: 31978R1355
Language: en
Date: 1978-06-20 00:00:00
Title: Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1355/78 of 20 June 1978 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on ferro-chromium originating in the Republic of South Africa and Sweden

No L 165/20                         Official Journal of the European Communities                             22. 6. 78
                               COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 1355/78
                                                    of 20 June 1978
             impoding a provisional anti-dumping duty on ferro-chromium originating in
                                     the Republic of South Africa and Sweden
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                sion carried out an on-the-spot inspection of the prin­
COMMUNITIES,                                                  cipal Swedish producer ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community,                                           Whereas during the examination of the existence of
                                                               dumping the Commission has found that the sales of
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No                   the company in question on the Swedish market were
459/68 of 5 April 1968 on protection against                   relatively low compared to its total sales and that the
dumping or the granting of bounties or subsidies by            prices of these domestic sales did not permit a valid
countries which are not members of the European                comparison of prices ; consequently recourse was had
Economic Community (J), as last amended by Regula­             to the criterion of cost of production ;
tion (EEC) No 1411 /77 (2), and in particular Article 15
thereof,
                                                               whereas such cost of production has been calculated
After hearing the opinions expressed in the Advisory           taking into consideration inter alia the following
Committee set up under the said Regulation,                    elements : raw materials (including the basic mineral
                                                               which contains chrome oxide, bauxite, quartz and
Whereas the Commission has received a complaint                other materials for electrodes and fluxes), energy costs
submitted in the name of the Community ferro­                  (coke, electricity), labour costs including social costs,
chromium industry setting out evidence as to the exist­        other operating costs (including maintenance costs
ence of dumping of ferro-chromium originating in               and transport costs), interest paid, to which was added
the Republic of South Africa and Sweden as well as             a reasonable amount for administration, selling and
material injury resulting therefrom ;                          other costs and for profits ;
Whereas, since the information received indicated
that the complaint was admissible and that defensive           Whereas these preliminary calculations have shown
measures against dumping might be necessary, the               that the fair market price of ferro-chromium on the
Commission officially notified the representatives of          Swedish market brought up to a cif Community fron­
the exporting countries and the importers and expor­           tier basis, duty unpaid is 36.05 US cents/lb for 'charge
ters known to be concerned, published in the Official          chrome', 38.93 US cents/lb for high carbon ferro­
Journal of the European Communities of 13 April                chromium and 62.23 US cents/lb for low carbon ferro­
 1978 notices of the initiation of enquiries concerning        chromium :
imports of ferro-chromium originating in the Repu­
blic of South Africa and Sweden (3) and commenced
an examination of the facts for the abovementioned
countries ;                                                    Whereas the preliminary determination of a dumping
                                                               margin for South African products has had to be
                                                               made on the basis of the facts available to the
Whereas the Commission gave interested parties the
opportunity to make known their views in writing ;             Commission since an on-the-spot investigation of
                                                               South African producers has not been possible at the
                                                               moment ;
Whereas the Commission heard interested parties and
gave to parties directly concerned the opportunity to
develop their views orally and to meet and to present
opposing views and rebuttal arguments ;                        Whereas the preliminary examination of the available
                                                                facts on the cost of production in the Republic of
Whereas, with a view to a correct determination of the         South Africa has shown that the fair market price of
dumping margin for Swedish products the Commis                  ferro-chromium on the South African market brought
                                                               up to a cif Community frontier basis, duty unpaid is
(!) OJ No L 93, 17. 4. 1968, p. 1 .                             34.35 US cents/lb for charge chrome, 37-13 US
(2) OJ No L 160, 30. 6. 1977, p. 4.                             cents/lb for high carbon ferro-chromium and 59-35
(3) OJ No C 90, 13. 4. 1978, p. 3.                              US cents/lb for low carbon ferro-chromium :
 ---pagebreak---  22. 6. 78                         Official Journal of the European Communities                        No L 165/21
Whereas these fair market prices have been compared
with the South African and Swedish export prices to          Whereas a new aggravation of the situation is taking
 the Community ;                                             shape, considering the spectacular increase of imports
                                                             during the first months of 1978 ;
Whereas this comparison has been made at the same
commercial level, in respect of sales made at the same       Whereas, for these reasons, a Member State requested
time, due allowance having been made, on their               the Commission, to take provisional measures immedi­
 merits, for differences in the conditions and terms of      ately in accordance with Article 15 ( 1 ) (c) of Regula­
sale and for other differences affecting price compara­      tion (EEC) No 459/68 ;
bility ;
                                                             Whereas, in these circumstances, the interests of the
Whereas this preliminary examination shows that              Community call for immediate intervention,
dumping has taken place, the margin of which is              consisting in the imposition of a provisional anti­
constituted by the undercutting of the fair market           dumping duty relating to imports of ferro-chromium
prices ;                                                     originating in the Republic of South Africa and
                                                             Sweden ;
Whereas, with regard to injury to the industry
concerned, the evidence available to the Commission          Whereas, however, the investigation relating to a
shows that imports into the Community of ferro­              Swedish exporter whose deliveries to the Community
chromium exported by South Africa and Sweden has             only have a slight impact is not yet sufficiently
increased from a level of approximately 94 000 tonnes        advanced to enable preliminary conclusions to be
in 1974 to 204 000 tonnes in 1977 ;                          drawn ; whereas it was consequently decided to
                                                             exclude the exporter from the application of this provi­
Whereas the imports concerned represent a market             sional duty,
share in the Community of 19 % in 1974 and 45 %
in 1977 and consequently have a very considerable
influence on the market ;                                    HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
Whereas the prices of these imports on the Commu­
nity market have fallen considerably, particularly in                               Article 1
recent months, thus exercising a depressive effect on
the Community producers' prices which no longer
cover their costs of production ;                            1 . A provisional anti-dumping duty is hereby
                                                             imposed on ferro-chromium, falling within Common
                                                             Customs Tariff subheading 73.02 E I and corres­
Whereas this development has taken place to the detri­       ponding to NIMEXE code 73.02-51 , originating in
ment of the Community industry which is in a very            the Republic of South Africa and Sweden. This duty
difficult situation, characterized by a reduction in         does not apply to ferro-chromium manufactured by
production of approximately 17 % between 1974 and            Ferrolegeringar Trollhatteverken AB, Sweden. The
1977, by a large under-utilization of production             provisions in force for the application of customs
capacity by large unsold stocks, the temporary cessa­        duties shall apply for the application of this duty.
tion of production in one area of the Community and
by loss of jobs, short-time working for the personnel
of the enterprises concerned, and by the appearance          2. The amount of such duty shall correspond to the
of losses for the companies in question ;                    difference between the fair market price in the Repu­
                                                             blic of South Africa and Sweden as set out in para­
                                                             graph 3 and the price free Community frontier duty
Whereas there is, therefore, sufficient evidence to          unpaid to the first importer.
show that, due consideration having been given to the
other factors having a bearing on the situation of this
industry, as, for example, the imports from other            3. For the purpose of this Regulation the fair
sources, the imports in question are causing and             market prices in the Republic of South Africa and
threatening to cause material injury to the Commu­           Sweden brought up to a cif Community frontier basis,
nity industry ;                                              duty unpaid, are as follows :
 ---pagebreak--- No L 165/22                      Official Journal of the European Communities                             22. 6. 78
                                                                            Fair market price in US cents
                                                                              per lb of chrome contained
                                      Composition
                                                                          South Africa            Sweden
          1 . ferro-chromium known as 'charge chrome':
              — chrome content : 50 — 58 % inclusive
              — carbon content : 6 — 9 % inclusive                          34-35                 36-05
              — silicon content : 1 — 7 % inclusive
          2. high carbon ferro-chromium :
              — chrome content : greater than 58 %
              — carbon content : 4 — 7 % inclusive                          37.13                 38-93
              — silicon content : 1.5 % maximum
          3 . low carbon ferro-chromium :
              — maximum carbon content : 0.5 %
                                                                            59-35                 62.23
              — maximum silicon content : 1.5 %
          4. The above fair market prices are net if the conditions of sale provide for payment
          within 30 days from end of month of delivery ; they are to be increased or reduced by
          1 % for any payment terms granting one month more or less.
                                                     Article 2
          The entry of the products described in Article 1 into free circulation shall be conditional
          upon the deposit of security for the amount of the provisional duty.
                                                     Article 3
          This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official
          Journal of the European Communities.
          Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 16 and 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 459/68,
          it shall apply until the entry into force of an Act of the Council either adopting definitive
          measures or extending the provisional duty, and in any event for a maximum period of
          three months .
          This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
          States.
          Done at Brussels, 20 June 1978 .
                                                                      For the Commission
                                                                      Étienne DAVIGNON
                                                                  Member of the Commission