JAKARTA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian paper manufacturers have been declared of not guilty on a dumping allegation by Thailand, restoring Thai buyers' confidence to buy Indonesian products again, local media reported Tuesday.

The decision will allow the paper makers to get back their grounds in the market after it freed from the accusation made last year.

Ernawati, trade defense director at Trade Ministry said that that five Indonesian producers of coated paper and paper boards, all under major paper maker Sinar Mas Group, would not be charged with an anti-dumping duty, a move that would boost Thai buyers' confidence to purchase the products from Indonesia again.

As stipulated by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) , anti-dumping duties can be collected by a country against imports of goods from other countries to counter impacts of dumping. "As the dumping allegation on Indonesian coated paper and paper board has been removed, the government expects exports of the two products can rebound to the level before 2011," Ernawati was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

Although Thailand had yet to determine a margin dumping or impose an anti-dumping duty, exports of the two items had dropped following the allegation. Buyers in Thailand stopped making new orders from Indonesian manufacturers on fears that the duty could be effective soon, Ernawati added.

During the years before the allegations emerged, Indonesian exports of coated paper and paperboard to Thailand had shown significant growth. Exports, which settled at 47,113 tons in 2008, rose by 15.07 percent to 62,187 tons in 2009, and by 10.03 percent to 68,426 tons in 2010, according to statistics at the Trade Ministry.

But exports fell by 32.56 percent to 46,145 tons in 2011 when the allegation was lodged.

In its demurrer submitted to its counterpart, the Indonesian government argued the domestic production of coated paper and paper board in Thailand from 2006 to 2009 could not cope with surging consumption of the items, causing imports to soar, Ernawati said.

Indonesia, currently the ninth-largest pulp and paper producer in the world, has faced recurrent dumping allegations overseas as local industry can manufacture the products efficiently, partly attributed to its tropical climate that helps shorten lifecycle of trees.

Generating around 8 million tons of pulp and paper annually, Indonesia can make paper at the lowest production cost of roughly 200 U.S. dollar per ton, according to an estimate by the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (APKI).

August 14, 2012 13:56 PM

Source: bernama.com