The European Commission has released a ruling making imports of PET spunbond from China subject to registration, meaning that all users must register their imports with the customs authorities who are carefully monitoring the import flow of these materials. This allows the commission to impose definitive anti-dumping duties with retroactive effect.

This ruling follows a complaint jointly filed earlier this year by Freudenberg Performance Materials and Johns Manville, two companies that are responsible for more than 25% of PET spunbond production in the EU. The calculations provided estimated dumping margins between 51-116% and an injury elimination level between 50-60% for the product concerned during 2024. The amount of possible future liability would normally be set at the lower of those two levels; however, at this stage the commission is unable to estimate the amount of possible future liability.

In a statement, EDANA, the European-based trade association for the nonwovens industry, said the e EU industry welcomes this step and thanks the European Commission for its efforts to re-establish a level playing field on the EU market.