The investigation of continuous filament glass fibre products imported from Egypt initiated in June 2019 by the European Commission – see Plasteurope.com of 21.06.2019 – will result in punitive tariffs on cut glass fibres of up to 50 mm in length, cut fibre mats and rovings starting 7 March 2020. EU member states are required to register all imports from Egypt over a three-week period in March, after which time a preliminary tariff of 8.7% will be due. The definitive measure will take effect in July 2020.

The 2019 enquiry into anti-dumping practices was requested by European producers association GlassFibreEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.glassfibreeurope.eu). After an investigation in the second half of the year, the EU commission determined that the total volume of glass fibre products imported from Egypt since commercial start-up of glass fibre producer Jushi’s (Tongxiang City, Zhejiang / China; www.jushi.com) facilities has increased by 130%. The average price of just over EUR 1,000/t fell to EUR 900/t at the same time. Most recent estimates put the total volume of annual imports at around 150,000 t.

A complaint lodged simultaneously against Chongqing Polycomp International (CPIC, Chongqing / China; www.cpicfiber.com) regarding imports from Bahrain has not yet yielded any consequences. Both producers evaded punitive tariffs on Chinese products in place since 2017 by importing from the Middle East – see Plasteurope.com of 09.05.2017.