SteelOrbis Shanghai
It is reported that in the absence of any objection from Europe's anti-dumping authorities, the EU has decided to prolong the suspension of the 22.5 percent tariff on imported Chinese ferromolybdenum until January 31, 2008. The AD tariff in question was initially suspended by the EU as of October 24, 2006, for the nine-month period up to July 23, 2007.
The October 2006 suspension of the tariff on ferromolybdenum imports from China was due to the EU's desire to relieve the problem of rising ferromolybdenum prices caused by decreased imports. The anti-dumping tariff had not only allowed prices to soar, but had also resulted in an unbalanced relationship between supply and demand.
Since the tariff suspension was introduced in October 2006, its impact on the market has already faded away, over the subsequent nine months and the prolongation of the tariff suspension is expected to have little influence on the Chinese and European markets. This is due in great part to China's announcement in past months of a 10 percent export tax on ferromolybdenum as well as a new export quota system - measures which have greatly boosted costs for Chinese enterprises. In recent days, the number of quotations from China in the international market has gone down sharply, accompanied by slack trading performance levels. At present, the export quotation of Chinese ferromolybdenum is around $72/kg Mo, which is too high for the European and eastern Asian markets to accept.