The International Trade Administration – part of the US Department of Commerce – has issued notification of its “intent” to revoke an anti-dumping duty order issued against imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet from the Sultanate of Oman.
The notification, marking the start of a review of the anti-dumping duty order issued by US authorities more than two years ago, will come as good news to, among others, Oman-based Octal Holding, one of the world’s largest producers of PET sheet for the global packaging industry. Octal’s flagship investment is a PET manufacturing complex located in Salalah Free Zone, output from which is marketed globally but primarily in the United States.
In notifying the general public about its planned review of the anti-dumping duty order, the US International Trade Administration said: “On November 18, 2022, the US Department of Commerce (Commerce) initiated a changed circumstances review (CCR) of the anti-dumping duty order on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet from the Sultanate of Oman (Oman). We preliminarily determine that revocation of the order is warranted. Interested parties are invited to comment on these preliminary results.”
The notification comes just over two years after the Commerce Department published its anti-dumping duty order on PET sheet from Oman on September 10, 2020. It followed a determination made by the International Trade Commission (also part of the Commerce Department) that PET sheet imports from Oman, as well as South Korea, “materially injured” the US domestic PET manufacturing industry and were thus subject to anti-dumping duties.
Octal Petrochemicals, backed by the Omani Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, strongly disputed the order and vowed to contest it.
In October this year, domestic US producers of PET sheet requested, through a Changed Circumstances Review (CCR), the revocation of the order. This was supported by OCTAL Extrusion Corporation, a US producer of PET sheet. An initiation notice issued by the International Trade Administration elicited no further objections from the domestic market, leading to the latest notification of its intent to revoke the order. That review is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 27, 2022.
A final revocation of anti-dumping duty on PET sheet will have beneficial impacts for Oman, which is a major exporter of the commodity to the US market. Salalah-based Octal Petrochemicals has been exporting PET sheets valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the United States, capitalizing on the Oman-US Free Trade Agreement.
Mexican-headquartered petrochemicals conglomerate Alpek currently owns Octal Holding SAOC following the acquisition of the Oman-based group in June this year.
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