At the request of the European renewable ethanol association, ePURE, the European Commission opened a reassessment on Wednesday 21 February of the anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of bioethanol from the USA into the EU. The duties are due to expire on 23 February.
Since 2013 the EU has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty set at €62.30 per tonne (net) on imports of American bioethanol intended for fuel use, on the basis of a dumping margin estimated at 9.5%.
This duty was set up to protect European ethanol producers in the face of unfair competition from American producers, who were benefitting from tax credits enabling them to sell their production 15% to 20% cheaper in Europe than in the USA.
The anti-dumping measures that are currently in place will remain in force during the Commission's investigation, which will be concluded within 15 months.
For ePURE, a repeal of the measures would lead to the resumption of massive unfair imports of ethanol from the USA, which would once again cause great damage to the EU industry.
According to the association, the US ethanol industry has continued its expansion, adding over 6 billion litres of production capacity, in a national market of fuel ethanol that has not developed at the same pace. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)