The PTA Users Association, which represents manufacturers of polyester chips, polyester films and polyester filament yarn, has appealed to the Union Government to withdraw its recommendation for imposition of the duty on PTA imports.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a notice levying anti-dumping duty for imports of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from China, Korea, Thailand and the European Union (EU). The notification, dated June 19, is expected to cause PTA price to rise, therefore making fibers costlier. Duties vary between $19.05 and $117.09 for a tonne (or 1,000 kilograms).

The association reports that the provisional anti-dumping duty will impact over 20,000 small and medium-scale polyester fiber and product manufacturers in the country. This move will kill the competition in the industry and will be totally unfair for the end product Indian consumers.

The polyester manufacturers strongly feel that the recommendation to impose the anti-dumping duty seemed to be done in hurry without understanding and proper calculations.

According to Indo Rama Synthetics, the duty will only increase the cost of a poor man’s fabric and at the same time will go against the growth of the polyester fiber industry.

The only beneficiary of anti-dumping duty imposition in India will be largest and integrated polyester player.