Korea will slap anti-dumping duties on polyester filament yarn products from China and Taiwan for the next five years, the country’s trade commission said yesterday.

The Korea Trade Commission said investigations conducted since February showed unfair undercutting of prices for polyester filament partially oriented yarn (POY) from the two countries that unfairly hurt local competitors. Depending on the extent of price-cutting carried out by exporters, duties of 2.97-6.26 percent are to be levied, the commission under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

“The ruling should help local companies that have been hurt by imports and help stabilize the supply of the yarn products,” an official said.

The probe was first initiated with complaints lodged by Seong-An Synthetics Co. and TK Chemical Corp. late last year. It said such practices were hurting local companies like KC&A Corp. and needed to be corrected through punitive duties. POYs are used as a key material in both the clothing and nonclothing sectors.

Domestic demand stood at 93,049 tons in 2007, with imports that were caught for unlawful practices making up 32.6 percent, or 30,331 tons. The watchdog also said that it will begin a formal probe against adipic acid imported from the United States that is widely used in paint, medicine and plasticizer.

Total demand for the chemical stood at 88.8 billion won ($59.1 million), with U.S. imports making up 8 percent of the total, worth 6.9 billion.