India probes wood panel imports from Vietnam

08/06/2015 12:00 - 565 Views

HCMC – The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) under India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has begun an anti-dumping investigation into Plain Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) imports from Vietnam and Indonesia, according to the Vietnam Competition Authority.

The DGAD has initiated the probe after Indian enterprises Greenply Industries Ltd. and Mangalam Timber Products Ltd. filed against MDF imports from the two ASEAN countries. The Indian agency probed the imports between October 1, 2013 and September 30 last year.

The Vietnam Competition Authority quoted data of the International Trade Center (ITC) as showing that Vietnam exported some 28,800 tons of MDF worth US$13 million to India last year and was the second biggest exporter of the product to this market.

Figures of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed India’s wood imports increased from US$630 million in 2003 to US$2.7 billion in 2013 as demand for materials in the real estate and furniture production sectors surged. The country spent US$96 million buying MDF in 2013 alone.

According to the Vietnam Competition Authority, Turkey is also looking into a possible avoidance of anti-dumping tax of plywood imported from Vietnam and Bulgaria since 2010.

Turkey’s General Directorate of Imports has launched the investigation to see if plywood is shipped from China to Vietnam and Bulgaria for export to Turkey to avoid anti-dumping tariff that Turkey is imposing on China’s plywood.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Economy, imports of plywood from Vietnam grew sharply to 24,065 cubic meters last year from only 3,250 cubic meters before 2010 and 10,052 cubic meters in 2013.

Source: Saigon Times