The European Commission has issued the results of a partial interim review of its antidumping order imposed on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron and steel originating, inter alia, in Russia. The review has been limited to Russian pipe producer group TMK (Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Taganrog Metallurgical Works, Sinarsky Pipe Plant, Seversky Tube Works and their related companies). The review covered the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007.
Following the entry into force of the original AD duty, the EC monitored the imports of the subject products from all concerned countries, namely Romania, Croatia, Russia and Ukraine. This monitoring showed that exports of Russia's TMK to the European Union (EU) in the six-month period after the imposition of the duty (June 27, 2006) dropped dramatically. The monitoring also indicated that the level of the duty as regards TMK's exports should be also reexamined as the company's dumping margin would be lower than 35.8 percent.
TMK also claimed that the circumstances that led to establishment of the dumping margin have changed and this change has a lasting effect. It was recalled that TMK did not cooperate fully in the original investigation and therefore its dumping margin was calculated on the basis of the facts available, i.e. the nominal value of another producer in Russia which cooperated with the investigation and Eurostat data. TMK also provided evidence to show that the nominal value based on it own domestic prices or costs and export prices to the EU would lead to a reduction of dumping well below the level of the measure imposed following the original investigation.
Thus, following the examination of all available evidence, the EC found that TMK's dumping margin was 27.2 percent of the net, free at EU frontier price, duties unpaid.
In light of its findings, the EC decided to amend the antidumping duty applicable to imports of the products in question from TMK to 27.2 percent.
The amended duty entered into force on the day following the publication of the official notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.