KNAUF GYPSUM Philippines, Inc. called for definitive anti-dumping duties against imports of Thai gypsum board in the face of deteriorating capacity utilization in Thailand.
Knauf Managing Director Mark Dewey N. Sergio said that the company believes that the threat from Thai gypsum board imports will continue.
“We have reason to believe that it will continuously cause material injury to the domestic industry because last year, Thailand also saw (declining capacity utilization),” Mr. Sergio said at a public hearing on Monday.
He said that the Philippines “is one of the major destinations” for Thai gypsum board.
According to Mr. Sergio, Thailand’s capacity utilization was only 57% at the end of 2024.
“Outside of that, there is also another gypsum board (plant) opening, which we foresee will further impact their industry’s utilization, thereby increasing the risk of the Philippines being again subject to products from Thailand,” he added.
Knauf said the new plant established by BNBM is expected to worsen Thai utilization to a level not seen in the last decade, which will push Thai manufacturers to seek further export opportunities at dumped prices.
According to Mr. Sergio, Knauf’s capacity increased after the company acquired USG Boral, another plasterboard company.
“In 2021, we started to transition our manufacturing rather than importing from Thailand the Boral-branded products,” he said.
“However, starting in 2023, we also noticed an increase in imported Thai products to the Philippines that resulted in a reduction of 23% in terms of our plant utilization,” he added.
Knauf said imports from Thailand declined from 2019 to 2021 as a result of the acquisition.
“However… starting from 2022 onwards, there was a 41% increase in Thai imports,” Mr. Sergio said.
In November 2024, the Department of Trade and Industry imposed four months of anti-dumping duties on imports of gypsum board from Thailand. — Justine Irish D. Tabile