The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to initiate an antidumping (AD) re-investigation on imports of casing, oil and gas and general purpose hot-deformed pipes with diameter up to 820 mm originating from Ukraine, in order to determine the need to review the existing AD measures.
The reinvestigation has been started in accordance with federal law No. 165-FZ entitled "On special protective, antidumping and countervailing measures on import of goods," dated December 2003, and following the request of the main domestic pipe producers, Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ), Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works (PNTZ), OMK's Vyksa Steel Works, and TMK and its three subsidiaries, namely, Volzhsky Pipe Plant, Sinarsky Pipe Plant (SinTZ) and Seversky Tube Works (STZ).
By the government's decision dated December 20, 2005, Russia imposed for a five-year period an 11.4 percent AD duty on Ukrainian imports of casing and an 8.9 percent AD duty on imports of oil and gas and general purpose hot-deformed pipes from Ukraine with diameter up to 820 mm, excluding imports of the Ukrainian steelmaker Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol, for which the duty was set at zero percent. The AD duties became effective from January 31, 2006.
"Due to changed circumstances, the existing AD duties are not sufficient to counteract the dumped imports and to eliminate the harm to Russia's economy caused by dumped imports," reads the ministry's statement.
According to data from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the 2005-2008 period the imports of casings originating from Ukraine increased by 81.9 percent, while the weighted-average price for Ukrainian casings went up by 78 percent. On the other hand, between 2005 and 2008, imports of oil and gas and general purpose hot-deformed pipes from Ukraine increased by 51.4 percent, while the weighted-average price for these Ukrainian products rose by 88.2 percent.