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Imports no threat to float glass industry: Ministry
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has rejected a demand by float glass producers for protection against imports saying the domestic industry faces a threat from rising fuel prices rather than imports.
It had launched a six-month investigation following a request from the industry to impose higher import tariffs and restrictive import quotas.
The ministry said the float glass industry had been affected by a surge in the price of heavy fuel oil (FO) in Vietnam at a time when international prices were falling and declining demand due to the economic slump.
The price of FO, whose costs account for 30-35 percent of manufacturers’ total costs, had risen in Vietnam from the middle of 2008 until March 2009.
But with domestic FO prices coming down in line with international prices and demand for float glass rising with the economic recovery, protective measures are no longer appropriate.
The market share of Vietnamese glass manufacturers has recovered to 84 percent and continues to rise.
Viglacera Float Glass Company and Vietnam Float Glass Company had asked the ministry’s Competition Administration Department last July to initiate an investigation into float glass imports.
They had been alarmed by the surge in imports of two main kinds of float glass by 3.5 times in 2008 and two times in the first eight months of last year.
The investigation, the first by Vietnam since it joined the World Trade Organization three years ago, considered imports from 15 countries and territories, including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
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