Buying citric acid from China gets harder to price for Europe, as Brussels has been reviewing the level of its anti-dumping duties since 14 September

Buying citric acid from China gets harder to price for Europe, as Brussels has been reviewing the level of its anti-dumping duties since 14 September.

I am Siggi. I know the chemistry in Asia.

Citric acid and trisodium citrate dihydrate from China have been subject to an EU anti-dumping duty since 2008. An expiry review has been running since April, and it deals with one question only: does the duty stay or does it go. On 14 September a second proceeding was added, an interim review. It covers both dumping and injury, and both margins are to be established anew.

The request was filed on 13 July by the two European producers, Citribel and Jungbunzlauer. They state that Chinese capacity grew by 780,000 tonnes between 2019 and 2025 and is now more than four times the size of the Chinese domestic market. In their view the existing measures are no longer sufficient. These are the applicants’ figures. The Commission considers them sufficient to open the proceeding, but nothing has been determined yet.

There are two passages in the notice that I would not skip as a buyer. The first concerns corn as a raw material. China does not refund VAT when corn is exported, so the corn stays in the country and, according to the request, is considerably cheaper there than on the world market. Normally the EU sets an anti-dumping duty only as high as needed to remove the injury to European producers. If the raw material distortion is confirmed, it can drop that ceiling and set the duty at the full dumping margin. The second passage is short: the Commission reserves the right to have imports registered by customs in the course of the investigation.

The rates themselves are unchanged, 15.3 to 42.7 percent depending on the producer. They also apply to goods consigned from Malaysia. Price undertakings as a way out have not existed since March 2024. A result can be expected after twelve to fifteen months.

Anyone selling citric acid or trisodium citrate from China at fixed prices well into 2027 is carrying a duty risk in both directions. I would keep price commitments on these products short. Processors still have time to submit comments on Union interest to the Commission. The deadline is 21 October.

That's the chemistry.
Siggi