EU court overturns EC decision to extend duty on ammonium nitrate from Russia
MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) - The European Court of Justice has overturned the decision of the European Commission, dated December 2020, to extend the anti-dumping duty on ammonium nitrate from Russia, the court said in materials to the ruling.
The court ruled on behalf of the suit filed by JSC Nevinnomyssky Azot and JSC Novomoskovskaya Azot, subsidiaries of the EuroChem group.
The EC in December 2020 extended for five years the duty of 32.71 euros per tonne on importing ammonium nitrate from Russia. The Fertilizers Europe association had requested an initiation of the review procedure for anti-dumping measures in connection with expiration of the timeframe.
The court noted in its ruling that rescinding the 20-year-plus duty could result in Russian imports of ammonium nitrate being redirected from other markets, mainly from Latin America, to the European Union market, which is more attractive for Russian suppliers both logistically and regarding prices. Meantime, Russia supplied ammonium nitrate to other countries at prices below the respective domestic market prices. Having investigated the matter, the EC conclude that the dumping of imports of ammonium nitrate from Russia could resume if the duty were rescinded.
EuroChem's subsidiaries in February 2021 noted in their respective lawsuit that the review procedure had contravened the EU's requirements on anti-dumping legislation.
The court ruled that the regulator had requested additional information from Fertilizers Europe on the pricing of ammonium nitrate from Russia following the expiration of the legal deadline for opening an investigation. The data were included in the consolidated request, on which the investigation was based. The previously mentioned data also differed substantially from the association's previously provided data.
"The EC has three months prior to the expiration of the measures to ensure that the evidence [provided in the request to review the duty] is sufficient, and it may request additional information. However, the EC may not compensate for the lack of sufficient evidence in a request filed within the statutory deadline or replace missing or incomplete aspects of the request with new information," the court said in its ruling.
EC representatives noted during the hearings that the initial request of Fertilizers Europe contained evidence of Russian suppliers likely continuing dumping, which was sufficient to initiate the review procedure. However, the court decided that the EC had contravened the anti-dumping legislation, and that the complaint filed by EuroChem's subsidiaries should be satisfied.
The EU first introduced anti-dumping duties on imports of ammonium nitrate from Russia in 1995.
UralChem, Acron , and EuroChem are Russia's largest producers of ammonium nitrate.