The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) imposed a final anti-dumping duty of 35.7% on imports of household matches to Ukraine on April 16.
According to the ICIT’s announcement in the Uryadovyi Kurier newspaper on Friday, the decision will enter into force 30 days after the date of publication of the announcement.
The ICIT reminds that the anti-dumping investigation was initiated by the decision of April 12 against imports of matches from India and Pakistan at the complaint of Ukrainian Match Factory LLC, which has a share of more than 50% in the total production of matches in Ukraine.
At the same time, it was found that during the investigation period (April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024), imports of matches from India were carried out at dumping prices, while there were no imports from Pakistan.
The ICIT found that during the study period (January 1, 2021 – March 31, 2024), the volume of dumped imports decreased by 47.3% in absolute terms, while increasing by 27.8% in relation to the total production of the product in Ukraine and by 26.4% in relation to consumption.
In addition, the national producer’s production volumes decreased by 58.7%, the level of production capacity utilization by 58.7%, domestic sales by 58.1%, financial result from domestic sales in dollar terms by 229.4%, in hryvnia terms by 275.3%, and profitability from domestic sales by 390.4%, which was negative.
The number of production workers also decreased by 2.4%, wages by 32.1%, labor productivity by 57.7%, investment by 100%, and warehouse balances increased by 134.1%.
The Commission found that the Republic of India has a significant export potential, which indicates the likelihood of a significant increase in the volume of dumped imports of matches from this country in the future.
The anti-dumping measures are applied to matches, except for pyrotechnic products of heading 3604, classified under code 3605 00 00 00 according to the Ukrainian Classification of Goods for Foreign Economic Activity.
Ukrainian Match Factory LLC was founded in 1995, with production facilities located in Rivne region. The design capacity of the factory is 630 million boxes of matches per year. The products are supplied to all regions of Ukraine and abroad.
According to opendatabot, in 2024, the factory suffered a loss of almost UAH 26 million (3% more than a year earlier), while net income increased by 9.7% to UAH 175.2 million. At the same time, in 2022, it had a profit of UAH 38 million and revenue of UAH 373.5 million.
The founder of the company is listed as British Paxstone Limited, and the ultimate beneficiary is Maria Fursina from Kyiv.
