Anti-dumping investigation ruling released: how do aluminum foil producers respond?

Recently, the Internal Market Protection Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission announced the final ruling on the anti-dumping investigation of Chinese aluminium foil. It determined that the products involved were dumped and caused damage, recommending the imposition of anti-dumping duties for a period of five years. The specifications of the aluminium foil involved are thicknesses from 0.0046mm to 0.2mm, widths from 20mm to 1,616mm, and lengths over 150 meters. The HS codes of the products involved are 7607111109, 7607111909, 7607119000, 7607191000, 7607199009, 7607201000, and 7607209000. The anti-dumping duties for Chinese suppliers are as follows: Xiamen Xiashun Aluminium Foil Co., Ltd. 19.52 per cent, Jiangsu Dingsheng New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. 17.16 per cent, and all other Chinese producers 20.24 per cent.

What impact will this have on China's aluminium foil market? How will aluminium foil producers respond? Where will aluminium foil originally exported to Europe go?

The Eurasian Economic Union, established in 2015 and also known as the Eurasian Economic Commission, includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia as member states.

As the world's largest exporter of aluminium foil, China accounts for approximately 60 per cent of global aluminium foil production. In 2024, China's aluminium foil exports reached 1.5557 million tonnes, an increase of 246,400 tonnes, up 15.83 per cent YoY. Throughout 2024, China's aluminium foil exports to Eurasian Economic Union countries were mainly destined for Russia, with an export volume of 32,000 tonnes, accounting for about 2 per cent of China's total annual exports.

According to SMM, some related aluminium foil enterprises stated that the aluminium foil products under the involved HS codes are still being exported normally. Meanwhile, companies are discussing countermeasures internally. If the ruling is officially implemented, they are considering maintaining the current export value through re-export trade. However, they do not rule out the possibility of the importing countries releasing unused capacity for similar products or conducting anti-dumping investigations on re-exporting countries under the principle of "equal treatment." Therefore, companies indicated that they are also preparing for the worst-case scenario of giving up this portion of the export market share, shifting to the domestic market or exploring other overseas markets.

In summary, the final ruling of this anti-dumping investigation has not yet been officially implemented. However, based on actual data and feedback from enterprises, the value of aluminium foil exports to Eurasian Economic Union countries is unlikely to significantly impact the domestic aluminium foil market structure, whether from a national or corporate perspective. SMM will continue to monitor the developments of this event.