EU Anti-Dumping Duties on Coated Fine Paper Imports from China Could Threaten the Print Industry in the Balkans

The decision by the European Commission to place provisional anti-dumping duties on Coated Fine Paper imports from China (reported on Balkans.com on 3 December) could threaten the print industry in the Balkans.

The Balkan region has few papermills of its own, so to remove their access to an important international source of quality paper at globally competitive prices would leave the regions' printers to the mercy of established Western European producers whose primary concern is to protect jobs in their own domestic markets. The result could be to expose the Balkan region to print from 'favoured' European manufacturing countries as well as to fierce competition from printers in Central Europe.

The Anti-Dumping charges brought against Chinese Coated Fine Paper (CFP) are are flawed in a number of areas and will ultimately drive up prices for the printing industry right across Europe. CFP manufacturing represents some 10,000 jobs across the EU27, while the printing industry employs some one million people and is indirectly responsible for further jobs in aligned industries such as ink and plates. The paper industry is a consolidated industry, performing well and with a good balance of imports and exports, while the printing industry by contrast is fragmented and faces long-term challenges due to the move online as well as the short-term challenges brought by the current economic downturn.

Indeed China's share of the Coated Fine Paper (CFP) market in Europe is less than 5%, and while production and labour costs may be lower, investment costs and interest rates are higher than in Europe and Chinese industry does not receive subsidies like the EU. In fact since the Anti-Dumpting case started in February this year Sappi, a major Europe-based manufacturer, have actually raised their prices on CFP three times. Europe actually has a CFP overcapacity of two million tonnes and is a net exporter.

Furthermore, the scope of this Anti-Dumping case is very narrow and only covers CFP and not web offset reels. This is unusual as the European Commission usually tries to widen the scope to include as much as possible. In particular, the case does not include the MReal assets purchased by Sappi, which would have a significant impact on the complaint. Finally, the EU has based the cost-competitiveness study on the US economy, rather than an emerging economy.