Late last week, the US Department of Commerce report¬ed preliminary duties on Australian silicomanganese. Last Monday, CRU Ryan's Notes noted that the preliminary duty was levied at 11.93% for Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company (TEMCO) of South32. Because TEMCO was the only mandatory respondent in the case (no other producer exists), the 11.93% duty applies to all other producers/exporters of Australia. Commerce has subsequently instructed the US Customs and Border Protection to collect the cash deposits at the preliminary rate.

 

The Department of Commerce will announce its final determination on or near December 1, 2015. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) will make its final determination on January 15, 2016. If both the US Department of Commerce and the US ITC issue, Commerce will issue its anti-dumping order on or about January 22, 2015.

 

The AD suit was initially filed on February 19, 2015. At the time of the filing, Mordechai Korf, CEO of Felman Production, commented, "Dumped silicomanganese from Australia has had a devastating impact on US market con¬ditions in recent years, but we are not giving up. Felman successfully restarted two of its furnaces last year, and we are now taking this important action to ensure that US manufacturers and workers have the opportunity to com¬pete on a level playing field." www.cmyroup.com

 

Following the filing, Felman Production idled one of two functioning furnaces for maintenance, but the furnace was not restarted due to market conditions. The second fur¬nace was then re-commissioned in early September. Two of three furnaces at Felman Production are now running.