Russia Extends Anti-Dumping Duty on Graphite Electrode Imports from India

In a not so good news for Indian graphite electrode manufacturers, Russia’s board of ECE (Eurasian Economic Commission) has decided to extend the anti-dumping duty (ADD) on graphite electrode (GE) imports from India for another five years.

In 2012, Russia had imposed anti-dumping duty of 16.04% on Indian companies, HEG Limited and 32.83% on Graphite India and other manufacturers for five years till 25 Jan’18. In October last year, ECE undertook the review of anti-dumping duties on Indian imports and based on its preliminary findings, it concluded to continue with the duties on Indian GE suppliers.

However, Indian manufacturers were hopeful that Russia would remove anti-dumping duty on its GE imports from India given the increased demand for graphite electrodes across the globe. The demand for GE in China have increased significantly, especially since the latter half of 2016 due to the closure of its polluting GE units and promotion of electric furnaces as a part of China’s anti-pollution campaign.

In Russia, the only major player of graphite electrodes is Energoprom Group that has GE plants in Novocherkassk, Novosibirsk, and Chelyabinsk. The enterprises produce a wide range of products: from large-sized serial products (graphitized electrodes, carbon electrodes, and cathode blocks) to specially manufactured graphite apparatuses and graphite structural products (chemical equipment, special graphite). The company has GE capacity of 50,000 tonnes and is currently undergoing expansion after which its capacity will increase further by 10,000 tonnes. This capacity expansion is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019.

According to the data with SteelMint, Russia is a net importer of graphite electrodes with its GE imports in 2017 standing at 44,352 tonnes with about 52% imports coming from China followed by Spain (22%) and France (13%) in 2017. Its graphite electrodes production during the year stood at 33,000 tonnes and exports were recorded at 39,458 tonnes. In the first six months of 2018, Russia imported about 22,484 tonnes of graphite electrodes whereas its exports stood at 22,009 tonnes.