Pittsburgh (Platts)--1 May 2018. The US International Trade Commission voted 4-0 Tuesday against revoking the existing antidumping duty order on silicon metal imports from China.

In a statement, the ITC concluded that revocation of the five-year ("sunset") review would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of material injury to the US market in the foreseeable future. This follows the Department of Commerce's affirmative determination on the sunset review.

As a result of both departments' affirmative findings, the existing antidumping duty order on Chinese imports will stand.

US silicon producer Ferroglobe said it welcomed the determination, which requires cash deposits of antidumping duties at 139.49% for Chinese silicon imports from all but one Chinese supplier. That supplier - Jiangxi Gangyuan Silicon Industry - is subject to a cash deposit rate of 48.64%.

"We advocated maintaining the order in place to protect our operations and workers in the United States from being harmed by unfairly low-priced Chinese imports," said Ferroglobe's executive chairman Javier Lopez Madrid. "This decision will ensure that Chinese silicon metal imports are fairly traded and will allow us to compete in the US market on a level playing field."

In a concurrent investigation, the ITC recently voted unanimously against imposing duties on silicon metal imports from Brazil, Australia, Norway and Kazakhstan.

Since the news hit the market on March 23, silicon prices have dipped on the expectation that more offshore metal will find its way to the US after a period of limited importing by traders. The S&P Global Platts weekly assessment for 553-grade silicon stands at $1.40-$1.43/lb since Wednesday, down from $1.43-$1.45 at the time of the announcement.

Market sources have said that despite the antidumping margins on Chinese silicon which have made importing from China too costly, there is a healthy amount of supply, both domestic and abroad, to support the US market.