KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): Malaysia has started investigating imports of some tin products from China, India, Japan and South Korea, following a complaint, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) said on Thursday.

The anti-dumping probe follows a petition from Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia (Perstima) Bhd (KL:PERSTIM), Miti said in a statement. The petition alleged that the tin products were sold in Malaysia at “much lower price” than in the countries of origin, the ministry noted.

“A preliminary determination will be made within 120 days from the date of initiation,” Miti said. “If the preliminary determination is affirmative, the government will impose a provisional anti-dumping duty at the rate that is necessary, to prevent further injury to the domestic industry.”

Perstima — which manufactures tinplate typically used as cans for food and beverage — filed a petition on July 15 to Miti, requesting an investigation into imports of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel of a width of 600mm or more, clad, plated or coated with tin from China, India, Japan and South Korea.

The company further claimed that the dumped imports from the alleged countries have increased in terms of absolute quantity and have caused “material injury” to the domestic industry.

“The government has assessed and considered the information and evidences of dumping, injury and causal link set out in the petition, and decided to initiate an anti-dumping duty investigation on imports of subject merchandise from the alleged countries,” Miti said.

Miti said it will distribute a set of questionnaires and relevant documents to interested parties, such as importers, foreign exporters or producers of the subject merchandise in the alleged countries and trade associations, as well as the government of the alleged countries.

The government may make its preliminary determination “based on the available facts” in the event parties concerned do not provide necessary information by Sept 13, 2024, the ministry added.