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2000 (2) TMI 344

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..... efore, confirms paras 47 to 49 of the Preliminary Findings and recommends the imposition of final Anti-dumping Duties on all imports of reference grade DBM originating in or exported from China PR at the rates specified below :- Name of the Exporter Amount of Duty (Rs. Per MT) China Metal Imports and Exports Corpn., China 705 Sima Resources Gmbh, Germany 1264 China Soungang International Trade and Engg. Corpn., China 1150 Exporters other than Above 1264 2. The appellants are an Association of Refractory Producers in India. They import DBM from China and produce refractory bricks out of the same. The imposition of Anti-dumping duty has adversely affected their interest by making their input more expensive and are, therefore, aggrieved by the findings of the DA. 3. The reference grade DBM involved in this appeal is "Dead Burnt Magnesite (DBM) having MgO content ranging from 85% to 92%." The appellants had taken part in the investigation proceedings of the DA and had contested the imposition of duty on all grades of DBM having MgO content of 85% to 92%. They contended that silica content in DBM is a ve .....

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..... He submitted that the findings of the DA were entirely in accordance with the legal provisions relating to anti-dumping investigations. Rule 7 of Anti-Dumping Rules specifically provides that data furnished on confidential basis shall be treated as such by the Designated Authority. Further, the appellant importers are in no position to challenge the normal value of goods in China as they have no information about the domestic price of the goods in China or the cost of production of the said goods in China. He also submitted that the DA was correct in taking the export price at FOB level, as the relevant price under Section 9 of Customs Tariff Act, for determining whether there is dumping, is whether the export price is less than the domestic sale price in the exporting country. Landed price of the exported goods in India is of no concern. He also submitted that, for an article to be treated as like article , it is sufficient that the article has characteristics closely resembling those of the articles under investigation according to the definition of like article in Rule 2(d) of Anti-Dumping Rules. With regard to the findings of the DA on injury and causal link, he pointed o .....

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..... ention before the DA as well as in the present appeal is that their import i.e. DBM of less than 4% by weight silica, is a different type/grade of DBM which is required by them for manufacture of refractory bricks which conforms to specification of steel industry. They contend that silica content is vital in ensuring that the bricks are able to withstand the temperature in the steel industry furnace for several operations. They had produced materials to substantiate this submission of theirs before the Designated Authority. The counsel for the appellants took us through these materials in great detail during hearing. He submitted that the DBM produced in both South India and North India contains above 4% by weight of silicon. The higher silica content leads to formation of several low melting compounds in the refractory lining. The higher silica content adversely affects the capability to resist repeated thermal shocks while operating the LD converter in the steel industry. The high silica content reduces softing point of Magnesite refractory brick. They had also submitted before the DA copy of the certificate of Dr. N.R. Sircar, former Deputy Director of Central Glass and Ceramic .....

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..... of various grades produced by them were all containing silicon ranging from 4.5% to 10-12%. They also submitted that with regard to their specific request for supply of DBM of 90-92% MgO and 4% maximum silica, Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited replied on 15-11-1995 that they were not having stock of such DBM and that they would inform when the availability of such grade is ready. The counsel submitted that it is clear from this letter as well as the price revision letter that Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited was not producing DBM of less than 4% silica. Thus, the submission of the appellants, based on IS specifications, DGTD meeting decision and commercial information, is that high grade DBM with less than 4% silica is not available domestically and for that reason, the imported silica of that standard is not in commercial competition with the indigenously produced silica. It is also not substituted by high silicon DBM produced in the country. They, therefore, submit that the DBM industry in India is not injured by the import of a different type/grade DBM. Therefore, they submit that there is no causal link between injury, if any, felt by the domestic industry and the import of Chinese DBM .....

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..... is clear that DBM of less than 4% silica content imported by the appellants from PR China is a different grade/type product from the DBM produced in India. The imported DBM is not substituted by the DBM produced in India. The imported DBM is also not in commercial competition with the domestically produced DBM. Accordingly, we accept the submission of the Indian Refractory Makers Association that the import of DBM containing less than 4% silica by them causes no material injury to the Indian DBM manufacturing industry and that there cannot be a causal link between the import of that grade DBM from PR China and the injury, if any, experienced by the Indian DBM industry. 10. For the purpose of imposing anti-dumping duty on dumped imports, it is a requirement under Rule 11 of Anti-Dumping Rules that import of such article into India causes or threatens material injury to any established industry in India or materially retards the establishment of any industry in India. Further, Rule 4(b) of the same Rules requires that DA shall identify the article liable for anti-dumping duty. If dumped import of an article does not or is not capable of causing injury to the domestic industry, im .....

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