Ceramic tile suppliers from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have hurt Taiwan’s industry by setting unfairly low prices for their products, a finding released on Monday last week by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Commission said.
In its final determination, the commission found in favor of Taiwanese ceramic tile makers, saying that the dumping practices of ceramic tile makers from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam resulted in a loss of market share in Taiwan by local suppliers.
Suppliers from the four countries saw their combined share of the Taiwanese ceramic tile market rise to 38.2 percent in the first quarter of this year from 25.9 percent in 2016, because they sold their products at below market prices, it said.
Taiwanese ceramic tile makers have seen their share of the domestic market decline each year, to 44.3 percent in the first quarter of this year from 58 percent in 2016, it said.
Shipments of ceramic tiles from the four countries in the first quarter rose 61.3 percent year-on-year as foreign manufacturers continue to cut their prices in the Taiwanese market, the commission added.
In the January-to-March period, suppliers from the four countries accounted for 60 to 70 percent of Taiwan’s total ceramic tile imports, the commission said.
As ceramic tile exporters from the four countries cut their prices by 12 percent in 2017, 6.1 percent in 2018 and 3.4 percent in 2019, their sales rose more than 8 percent in 2018 and 2019, the commission added.
A declining market share hurt the factory utilization rate of Taiwanese tile makers, caused their inventories to swell and reduced their return on investment to only 1 percent, it said.
The importation of ceramic tiles from the four countries adversely affected the Taiwanese industry, the commission said, citing figures as evidence.
The commission said that it would forward its final determination to the Ministry of Finance, which would decide how to impose anti-dumping tariffs on ceramic tile exporters from the four countries.
The ministry is expected to issue financial penalties by the end of next month, it said.
The ministry in July issued a final affirmative ruling, determining that ceramic tile suppliers from the four countries had dumped their products in the local market.
The anti-dumping probe was initiated by the ministry and the commission in October last year after the Taiwan Ceramic Industries Association (台灣陶瓷公會), Champion Building Materials Co (冠軍建材), Sanyo Tile Group (三洋窯業) and Hiland Co (黃山石瓷磚) filed a petition requesting an investigation into alleged unfair trading practices by suppliers from the four countries.
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