The European Commission has launched an investigation into allegations of dumping of biodiesel from China onto the EU market – it proved dumpers face fines of millions of euros.
The European Union has started 2024 with an anti-dumping investigation into biodiesel imports from China, which the bloc’s industry says has slashed domestic production.
In August, it began investigating whether biodiesel from Indonesia was circumventing EU duties by going through China and Britain. The latest investigation, prompted by a complaint from producer group the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), will cover the period from October 1, 2022 to September 30 2023.
In a statement, the EU said: “If dumping is confirmed and is found to be harming EU producers, the Commission may impose measures (typically duties on imports) to remedy the effects of the unfair trading if such measures are in the EU’s interest.” The EU market in biodiesel is worth €31 billion annually, providing a renewable alternative to fossil fuels in the EU’s transport sector and improving the EU’s security of energy supply.
The launch of the anti-dumping investigation is based on a complaint by EU biodiesel producers. EU producers have submitted evidence of biodiesel imports from China coming into the EU at artificially low prices and claim that these imports are seriously harming their industry, because they cannot compete with such low prices.
The EU industry employs 3,700 people across 18 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
