SEOUL, Mar 28, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- -- South Korea's trade commission said Thursday that it has decided to slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese benzoyl peroxide.

The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) said investigations carried out in the past several months showed that unfair cutting of the price of the chemical catalyst is hurting local products.

With the exception of one company, which agreed to raise prices voluntarily, a uniform anti-dumping duty of 9.72 percent is to be levied on all Chinese imports of the product for the next three years.

Hansol Chemical company requested the investigation in early April and the KTC started its probe the following month, with local producers, importers and users being questioned by authorities.

Benzoyl peroxide is used as a polymerization catalyst for various synthetic resins, including polyesters and monomers such as silicone, acrylics, vinyl and styrene. It can also be used as the initiator of the polymerization.

As of 2006, the local market stood at 2.9 billion won (US$2.91 million), with imports accounting for about a third of local demand.

The trade commission, under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, also said it will conduct an in-depth probe into possible illegal price cutting by Chinese and Indian polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) film companies after finishing preliminary investigations.

"We have found evidence to suggest that damage is being caused by imports," a official said.

PET film is widely used in package wrappers and has various industrial applications, including in the graphics industry.

The local market stands at 329.3 billion won, with 72.7 percent of the product being made in the country. The investigations, which are to be concluded in August at the latest, will examine products that make up 3.9 percent of the total market or 12.9 billion won worth of PET film.

Kolon Industries Inc. requested a probe on September 5, 2007, and preliminary investigations have been conducted since late October.

Friday, March 28, 2008; Posted: 12:43 AM

Source: www.tradingmarkets.com