Can producers association protests anti-dumping move
Can producers association protests anti-dumping move
JAKARTA (JP): Local can producers lodged a protest on Tuesday
against the government's recent drive to impose anti-dumping
duties of up to 68 percent on the import of tin plates.
Vice chairman of the Association of Indonesian Can Producers
(APKKI) Halim Wijaya said the high countervailing duties were
unfair because they protected local tin plate manufacturer PT
Pelat Timah Nusantara (Latinusa) at the expense of other
industries.
Joined by the association's lawyer, Erry Bundjamin, Halim said
"the anti-dumping tariff has a flimsy basis".
The high import surcharge would not only hurt can producers
but also related downstream industries such as canned food and
beverage producers.
"We will have to raise our product price roughly 40 percent
if a 68 percent surcharge is imposed."
Last month the government implemented anti-dumping duties of
up to 68 percent against tin plates imported from Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan and Australia.
The anti-dumping ruling was prompted by a request from
Latinusa, which complained that competitors from the four
countries sold their products in Indonesia at unfair market
prices.
The association's members preferred imported tin plates
because Latinusa -- the only tin plate producer in the country --
sold its products not only at high price but also at low quality,
Halim said, citing that a canned pineapple customer rejected cans
produced by Latinusa due to their inferior quality.
"If we import (tin plates) we receive our delivery in three
months, while Latinusa takes six months with an additional one or
two months delay to fill and deliver our order."
Halim acknowledged that importing products involved many
difficulties due to the complex negotiation issues, shipping
administration and the requirement to issue a Letter of Credit.
"If Latinusa could provide products at a reasonable price,
standard quality and good service, (there is) no doubt we would
buy all our raw material from the company."
Latinusa, the only local tin plate manufacturer, is 95 percent
owned by state-owned steel maker PT Krakatau Steel with the
remaining 5 percent controlled by Nusamba Foundation, a business
group related to former president Soeharto. (02)