Brazil recommends preliminary antidumping duties on US, Canada PE imports

Brazil's Secretariat of Foreign Commerce recommended implementing preliminary antidumping duties against US and Canadian polyethylene imports, according to a resolution published in the country's Official Gazette on Aug. 21.

The stipulated values for the preliminary antidumping duty were established at $199.04/mt for US material and $238.49/mt for Canadian products.

The resolution still needs to be voted on and approved by the Chamber of Foreign Trade before it can be applied to North American PE imports. The Chamber's next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 28.

According to the decision, the Secretariat concluded there was dumping and harm to Brazil's domestic industry on the prices applied by North American producers and traders.

"The domestic industry requested applying preliminary duties, as to neutralize the harm caused by PE resin imports in dumping prices," said the statement.

A period of up to six months is recommended for the implementation of duties, while the Chamber makes the final decision.

The recommendation for antidumping duties on PE imports in Brazil comes nine months after the country announced an investigation into North American products' prices in Nov. 13, 2024. The request was filed by local producer Braskem, the sole polyethylene and polypropylene producer in Brazil.

The new proposed deadline for a final decision on antidumping duties is Feb. 2, 2026, postponing the investigation for 18 months.

Market participants were surprised by the decision on preliminary duties, as rumors throughout July and August did not include decisions regarding the dumping investigation.

Most sources reported steady demand for US PE on the week ending Aug. 20, as prices remained in a downtrend and competitive against other regions, mostly against domestic product.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, last assessed the high-density blowmolding grade down $15/mt on the week at $890/mt CFR Brazil Aug. 20, while the linear low-density grade was assessed down by $20/mt on the week at $965/mt.

Although demand was reported to be higher than in the first semester, when anticipation for the duty was strong, some market participants still remained fearful of acquiring US products.

"No doubt it is a good moment to buy material at those prices," said a market participant Aug. 20. "But there is always the ongoing fear of the dumping being implemented."

Other sources believe the decision on implementing preliminary duties is political, as a response from the Brazilian government to negotiating 50% import tariffs applied by the US.

The US accounted for 70% of total PE imports to Brazil over the January-July period, while Canada was the third main supplier, with 5% of imports.

An uptick reported for PE imports in July was atypical when compared to the previous months, as imports remained at a downtrend, registering a 11% decrease when compared to the same year-ago period.

"This is purely a political decision," added a second source. "Brazil wants to put this on the negotiation table with the US."

Most sources remained cautious with the decision for the moment.

"For now, no one has canceled orders, but I expect that to happen in the future," said the second source.

"We need to still understand when this will be implemented," said a third source. "Probably customers and traders will be on the run for other origins, such as Asia, South America and Egypt."