By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties for up to five years on imports of PET resin from Malaysia and Vietnam, extending trade protection to a key raw material used in beverage bottles and packaging for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals — and putting packaging costs on the radar of major industrial buyers.
The decision, published on Friday, sets a duty of $160.87 per metric ton for Vietnamese producers. Malaysia’s Recron will face a significantly lower levy of $24.28 per ton, while other Malaysian exporters will be subject to a duty of $116.50 per ton.
The investigation was launched at the request of Indorama Ventures Polímeros and Alpek Polyester Pernambuco, which Brazilian authorities consider to account for 100% of domestic production of the PET resin covered by the case. The material is widely used across the beverage, food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical packaging industries.
The figures show how rapidly the market shifted. Brazilian imports of PET from Malaysia and Vietnam increased by more than 4,000% between July 2019-June 2020 and July 2023-June 2024. Over the same period, Brazil’s PET market expanded by 22.5%. In the final period reviewed alone, imports from the two countries rose 95.9%, while CIF prices fell 12.1%.
Brazil’s Department of Trade Remedies concluded that the dumped imports contributed significantly to the injury suffered by domestic producers. According to the investigation, imported PET entered Brazil below domestic industry prices in nearly all periods examined, while the financial performance of local manufacturers deteriorated sharply, particularly during the final two years of the review period.
For Vietnam, authorities calculated a dumping margin of $160.87 per ton, equivalent to 16.1% of the export price used in the investigation. Billion Industrial, the main Vietnamese producer selected for review, did not respond to the Brazilian government’s questionnaire, prompting authorities to rely on the best information available. Recron, by contrast, cooperated with the investigation and underwent an on-site verification, resulting in a much lower dumping margin of 2.6%.
The case also drew attention from major PET buyers. Ambev formally requested to participate in the investigation and was recognized as an interested party because it is an industrial user of PET resin. The final document, however, does not indicate that the brewer supported or opposed the imposition of the duties.
The measure now creates a test for Brazil’s packaging supply chain: how much of the additional protection granted to domestic producers can be absorbed by importers, and how much may ultimately feed through into costs for beverage, food and other large PET consumers.
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