(NBD) Aug. 31 -- The Commerce Ministry of China announced that it has officially launched anti-dumping investigations into hydrogenated butyl rubber from the United Sates, the European Union and Singapore starting from Aug.30.

NBD noticed that China imported 61,000 tons of hydrogenated butyl rubber from US, 45,000 tons from EU countries and 40,000 tons from Singapore in 2016. But producers from the above countries and regions have been selling rubber at a lower and lower prices, hurting margins and sales prices of China’s domestic producers.

Statistics show that the average price of hydrogenated butyl rubber imported from US were $4,134, $3,205 and $2,451 in 2014, 2014 and 2016 respectively. The average price of rubber from US has lowered 40.34% from 2014 to 2016. In addition, the average export price from EU countries and Singapore also saw a nearly 40% decrease from 2014 to 2016.

Moreover, the price of rubber exported to China is even lower than that sold in their own country. For instance, the average selling price of hydrogenated butyl rubber in 2016 was 3,280 U.S. dollars per ton in US, while the average selling price of that in China stood at only 2,451 U.S. dollars per ton. Industry insiders say it is irreasonable that the exported price of a product is lower than its selling price at home, because they have to pay for taxes, international insurances, and inventory.

The amount of hydrogenated butyl rubber imported from the US, Singapore and the EU countries have surpassed 50% of the total market share in China. If the unfair price continues, it will hurt the healthy development of domestic rubber producers.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn