Russia wheel import duty to expire on Jan. 22

21 January 2021

A 34.22% anti-dumping duty on imports of Ukrainian railcar wheels and other railway products into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will expire on Jan. 22, according to a Jan. 21 report by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The report cited a representative of Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).

 

The EAEU producers retain their right to ask the EEC to protect them in case of future dumping by the foreign suppliers, in which case the EEC will take the appropriate action, according to the EEC trade minister Andrey Slepnev, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

 

The EEC is the executive body of the EAEU led by Russia and uniting five former Soviet countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

 

Recall, the EEC hiked this duty in January 2018 to 34.22% from 4.75%, temporarily suspended it in July 2019, and reinstated it from June 2, 2020.

 

Ukraine's Interpipe (INTHOL) sells around 40-45% of its railway products to the CIS region, mainly to Russia and Belarus.

 

Dmytro Khoroshun: Interpipe is set to benefit from the duty’s expiration because its railway product sales prices for exports into Russia will likely increase.

 

However, regarding the sales volumes, we think that Interpipe might be careful and not increase them drastically in order to minimize the risk of Russia introducing another anti-dumping duty for Ukrainian railway products.

 

We also remind investors that there is a risk of Russia banning completely Interpipe’s railway product supplies.