Kazakhstan Faces Threat of European Tariffs on White Phosphorus

The European Union threatened to impose tariffs on white phosphorus from Kazakhstan to limit competition for Dutch producer Thermphos International BV.

The EU opened an inquiry into whether Kazakh manufacturers of the chemical sell it in the 27-nation bloc below cost, a practice known as dumping. White phosphorus is used to make derivatives including chlorides, sulphides and phosphoric acid, according to the website of Thermphos International.

The EU probe will determine whether imports of white phosphorus from Kazakhstan are “being dumped and whether this dumping has caused injury to the union industry,” the European Commission, the bloc’s trade authority in Brussels, said today in the Official Journal. The commission has nine months to decide whether to impose provisional anti-dumping duties for half a year and EU governments have 15 months to decide whether to apply “definitive” levies for five years.

The dumping investigation stems from a Nov. 7 complaint by Thermphos International, which is the EU’s sole producer of white phosphorus, according to the commission.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net