Today, the European Commission announced the opening of an anti-dumping investigation into aluminium extrusions originating from China.

The investigation follows a complaint by European Aluminium whose member companies are negatively impacted by the dumping of Chinese exports of aluminium extrusions. European Aluminium supports the Commission’s action and urges the swift adoption of appropriate anti-dumping measures.

“Increasing amounts of underpriced Chinese exports are dumped on the EU market, with harmful consequences for European aluminium producers. In the past year, production lines and entire plants closed, with significant job losses as a result. We ask the EU to be proactive rather than wait until it is too late – we need anti-dumping duties to be introduced urgently,” says Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium.

Chinese exports to the EU have more than doubled in the past five years; this is particularly the case for extrusions.1

“Chinese firms are not playing by the rules and show no signs of changing their approach. We have every reason to believe the dumping will continue unless the EU protects its market. If no urgent action is taken, Chinese production will further substitute European production and the EU risks losing a strategic value chain that is crucial to many low carbon applications,” concludes Götz.

The EU remains one of the last major markets that is unprotected against dumped Chinese exports of aluminium extrusions. Aluminium extrusions from China are currently subject to anti-dumping duties in the US, Canada, Australia and Vietnam.

1 In its landmark report, “Measuring distortions in international markets: The aluminium value chain,” the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlights that Chinese producers are recipients of vast amounts of state subsidies, which stimulate them to increase production and allows them to offer products below production costs on the international market. According to the report, global aluminium companies have received up to USD 70 billion in different forms of support over the 2013-2017 period. Notably, 85 percent of the documented subsidies went to just five Chinese firms.