PhosAgro disagrees with the calculations of the US Department of Commerce
Following the application of PhosAgro, S&P Global Market reports that the US Department of Commerce made a significant mathematical mistake while calculating rates of duty for phosphorus fertilizers produced by PhosAgro.
When calculating the rates of duty, which is set at 20.9%, the US Department of Commerce didn’t use the usual calculation method and took into account only the sales of the Apatit company (part of PhosAgro) when determining the price denominator, ignoring exports to third countries through the established company in Switzerland. Therefore, this method of calculation contradicts the agency’s previous statement that the subsidiary provided to PhosAgro and other producers would be calculated by companies’ total sales.
According to the statement of PhosAgro’s advisor Daniel Cannistra, the company believes that the mistake may be corrected by lowering the rate to 10%. The US Department of Commerce, in turn, announced that they had received a complaint and was currently studying its validity.
The anti-dumping investigation against PhosAgro began after complaints filed by the American fertilizer company Mosaic. In 2019, total imports of phosphorus fertilizers to the United States from Russia amounted to 767 thousand tons or $299.4 million. American manufacturers still worry about the anti-dumping investigation as they believe that cheap supplies from other countries will continue to flood the market.
