A statement from Roger Hartshorn, CEO, Garnalex
On Tuesday 22nd September the European Commission announced plans to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on aluminium extrusions from China. This includes imports of aluminium bars, rods, profiles, tubes and pipes, either unassembled or prepared for use.
The proposed duties will be as high as 48%, ranging from 30.4 – 38.2% for some companies; 34.9% for companies that cooperated in the European Commission’s anti-dumping investigation; and 48% for those companies who did not cooperate with the investigation. The duties will be in addition to the EU’s standard 7.5% import duty. Aluminium producers have until today, Friday 25th September to respond to the individual calculations before the Commission publishes a detailed report on the calculations and the regulation comes into force on 15th October. The European Commission’s ongoing anti-dumping investigation is expected to be finalised in April 2021, with the import duties likely to remain in place for a further five years.
Like other aluminium producers, Garnalex welcomes this announcement as an important measure to protect the European aluminium sector and ensure its long-term sustainability. Some reports suggest Chinese imports of semi-fabricated aluminium products had more than doubled between 2014 and 2019. According to European Aluminium: “The destructive impact of dumped imports has led to a decrease in production and a loss of market share for European producers across the entire value chain, which forced several companies to restructure or close plants with significant job losses as a result.”
The measures announced this week will have an impact on many aluminium companies across Europe. The UK alone consumes around 190,000 tonnes of aluminium, but only extrudes around 110,000 tonnes. So about 80,000 tonnes is imported. There are only three or four extruders in the UK, one of which is Garnalex, and 80-90 aluminium systems companies, who buy in profiles from extruding companies here and in China. Aluminium stockists buy in too. Systems companies who outsource like to keep their suppliers’ identities to themselves, but prices will inevitably go up significantly for those buying from China. We can’t say for certain what the UK will do, but one of the importers is assuming the UK will take similar action to European Commission and has put its prices up to reflect the changes.
When we set up Garnalex in 2018 we invested in a vertically integrated supply chain and source our raw aluminium logs from Wales so we have maximum control over it to mimimise the effect on customers. These anti-dumping measures and the resulting price rises will soon start to bite. Coming on top of the expected turmoil in ports and surrounding travel networks in Kent and potentially other area from January, users of imported profile can expect significant disruption.
Garnalex makes all Sheerline window and door components in-house with profile also painted on our Derbyshire site. That saves time, unnecessary carbon road miles and reduces the uncertainty of supply and quality. We’re proud to be Made in Britain, but it’s becoming clearer that it’s also prudent to make in Britain too.
