The Indian Finance Ministry has decided to not impose anti-dumping duty on several types of medium density fiber (MDF) boards having thickness below 6mm imported from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, according to a report.
The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry‘s Directorate General of Trade Remedies launched an investigation into the case in April 2020. After investigation, DGTR had recommended the imposition of Anti Subsidy Duty in April 2021 but it was further queried by the Ministry of Finance after objections of importers and users industry, and the Finance Ministry has decided to not impose Anti- Dumping duty on Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
The recommendation for such an initiative was requested by Greenpanel Industries Ltd, Century Plyboards (India) Ltd. and Rushil Decor Ltd. They had filed an application for imposition of the duty on the imports. Taking action on it, the DGTR recommended imposition of duty equal to the subsidy margin and loss making by domestic industry. They found in their investigation that with the cheaper imports from these countries the domestic industry has to bear losses as the import volume is higher.
Presently, there are around 6 companies that are producing thin MDF, and catering larger domestic requirements. According to numbers presented, the domestic industry is reported to have adequate production capacity to meet the domestic needs of thin MDF. To add further, many new companies are also coming up in this category, while existing companies are expanding their production capacity.