Following a complaint made by the European Glass Fiber Producers Association (APFE) against a number of continuous filament glass fibre products from China, an 'anti-dumping' investigation is likely to take place led by the EU.
According to EuCIA and EuPC this case could have several effects on the Composite Industry. Together they will meet representatives of the European Commission to get a clearer idea about the investigation.
Based on the existing official information and further clarifications from the European Commission, EuCIA considers that import duties on glass fiber from China will very likely lead to price increases in the market within a short period of time.
EuCIA say that they are committed to investigating whether dumping does takes place, and based on their findings will either support or act against these proceedings.
The consequences of the EU investigation could potentially lead to higher import duties that are likely to affect the whole chain. Past similar experiences within the polymer and other industries have shown that in some cases, import duties can reach figures as high as 20%, thus increasing the cost of raw material in Europe.
It is thought that the current low price of Chinese fiberglass has stimulated the use of fiberglass throughout Europe. Eucia believe that the potential increase in price could be one of the deciding factors to encourage companies to relocate production outside of Europe.
Due to the high number of stakeholders involved in the process the European Commission requested interested parties (users, producers, importers, etc) to make their interest known. EuCIA advises company users to take a collaborative stand and verify with the European Commission officials whether the company has been registered as user in this proceeding.
Additionally, any company can express its opinions about anti-dumping of fiber glass via a questionnaire and receive further information from the European Commission.
The deadline for sending the users' questionnaire to the European Commission is 25 January 2010.