Council Regulation (EC) No 954/2006 of 27 June 2006 imposing definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes, of iron or steel originating in Croatia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine, repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2320/97 and (EC) No 348/2000, terminating the interim and expiry reviews of the anti-dumping duties on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or non-alloy steel originating, inter alia , in Russia and Romania and terminating the interim reviews of the anti-dumping duties on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or non-alloy steel originating, inter alia , in Russia and Romania and in Croatia and Ukraine

• (149) Some exporting producers in Ukraine and Romania argued that imports from their countries should not be cumulated to those of the other countries under investigation for the injury and causation analysis since trends in import volumes were different. In this respect, it is noted that the import trends are only one of the many parameters which are examined in this context. The fact that the import levels from the various countries are not identical, is not as such a reason to de-cumulate. Indeed, in recital (147), the similarities between the imports from the four countries subject to investigation have been described. On this basis, and in the absence of any further indications concerning a lack of competition, it is not possible to distinguish the effect of the imports from these four countries simply on the basis of the respective volume trends. On the contrary, the similarities described above warrant a cumulative assessment.

• (150) In the present case, it was found for all four countries, including Ukraine and Romania, that the imported products on the one hand and the Community produced products on the other hand shared the same basic physical and/or chemical characteristics (see recital (39) concerning the like product). Moreover, imports from each of the four countries were significant, i.e. above the negligibility threshold defined in Article 5(7) of the basic Regulation. In this respect, it is noted that imports from Ukraine and Romania represented a market share of more than 4,5 % and 4,3 % respectively. Finally, and in addition to the arguments stated above, imports from all four countries were significantly undercutting the prices from the Community industry (from 22 to 43 %), Ukrainian and Romanian imports undercutting by 36 % and 22 % the Community industry prices (see below). On the basis of the above, it is concluded that all conditions are met for the cumulation of imports from the four countries under investigation for the purpose of injury and causation analysis. The claim for de-cumulation had therefore to be rejected.

Cumulated volume and market share

• (151) Imports from the four countries concerned increased from 304 268 tonnes in 2001 to 426 186 tonnes in the IP. The combined market share increased from 14,2 % in 2001 to 21,5 % during the IP. This has to be seen against the background of a declining consumption.

Table 2

	2001	2002	2003	2004 (IP)
Imports (tonnes)	304 268	307 441	342 626	426 186
Index	100	101	113	140
Market share	14,2 %	16,6 %	18,5 %	21,5 %

Prices

• (152) The weighted average price of imports of SPT originating in the four countries increased by 16 %, i.e. from EUR 433 per tonne to EUR 501 per tonne between 2001 and the IP. Between 2001 and 2002 prices initially slightly decreased by 3 % from EUR 433 to EUR 418 and dropped further in 2003 to EUR 397, after which they sharply increased to EUR 501, i.e. a significantly higher level than in 2001. The price increase in the IP can mainly be linked to the increase in the cost of raw materials in the IP.

Table 3

	2001	2002	2003	2004 (IP)
Weighted average CIF Community frontier price (EUR/tonne)	433	418	397	501
Index	100	97	92	116

Undercutting

• (153) For the determination of price undercutting, the Commission analysed data referring to the IP. The relevant sales prices of the Community industry were those to independent customers, adjusted where necessary to an ex-works level, i.e. excluding freight costs in the Community and after deduction of discounts and rebates. Prices for the different types of SPT defined in the questionnaires were compared with the sales prices charged by the exporters, net of discounts, and adjusted, where necessary, to CIF Community frontier with an appropriate adjustment for the anti-dumping duties and post-importation costs.

• (154) For the calculation of weighted average undercutting margins, export prices of cooperating producers and Eurostat data were taken into consideration. During the IP, the weighted average undercutting margin was 43 % for Russia, 36 % for Ukraine, 22 % for Romania and 26 % for Croatia.

Situation of the Community industry

• (155) In accordance with Article 3(5) of the basic Regulation, the examination of the impact of the dumped imports on the Community industry included an evaluation of all economic factors having a bearing on the state of the Community industry during the period considered.

Production

• (156) The production volume showed a similar trend to that of consumption, although the decline during 2002 and 2003 and recovery during the IP was more pronounced in relative terms than the decline and recovery of consumption during the same periods. It sharply declined by 21 %, from 1 495 278 tonnes in 2001 to 1 174 414 tonnes in 2002. In 2003, the production volume reached only three quarters of the volume produced in 2001. However, in line with the improved demand situation resulting from the investment activity in the oil and gas industry during the IP, the production volume increased again and reached 1 290 258 tonnes in the IP.

Table 4

	2001	2002	2003	2004 (IP)
Production (tonnes)	1 495 278	1 174 414	1 126 188	1 290 258
Index	100	79	75	86

Capacity of production and capacity utilisation rates

• (157) The production capacity was established on the basis of the nominal capacity of the production units owned by the Community industry, taking into account interruptions in production as well as the fact that in certain cases part of the capacity had been used for other products manufactured with the same production lines.

• (158) SPT production capacity has remained stable during the period considered. However, capacity utilisation rates diminished by 12 percentage points from 87 % to 75 %, as a result of the decrease in the production volume. The increase of capacity utilisation during the IP is a result of the increased production volume in the IP against the background of a stable production capacity.

Table 5

	2001	2002	2003	2004 (IP)
Capacity of production (tonnes)	1 722 350	1 717 919	1 709 605	1 709 078
Index	100	100	99	99
Capacity utilisation	87 %	68 %	66 %	75 %

Stocks

• (159) As far as stocks are concerned, the vast majority of production is made in response to orders. Therefore, whilst an increase in stocks of 13 % was observed over the period considered, it is considered that in this case stocks were not a relevant indicator of injury.

Table 6

	2001	2002	2003	2004 (IP)
Stocks (tonnes)	95 032	100 471	90 979	107 521
Index	100	106	96	113

Investments

• (160) Between 2001 and the IP, investments for the production of the like product diminished from EUR 66 852 644 to EUR 26 101 700 and were only made to maintain production capacity at its current level and not with the purpose to increase the production volume.

Table 7

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Investments (EUR)	66 852 644	56 581 829	45 518 515	26 101 700
Index	100	85	68	39

Sales and market share

• (161) It was found that sales of the Community industry to related customers were made at market prices and therefore those sales were also taken into consideration for the analysis of sales and market share of the Community industry.

• (162) SPT sales in volume on the Community market decreased from 862 054 tonnes in 2001 to 725 145 tonnes in 2002, i.e. by 16 %, and further to 683 985 tonnes in 2003, where demand was exceptionally low according to the Community industry. During the IP, sales picked up again and reached 729 555 tonnes, which is still considerably lower than the level of 2001.

• (163) Whereas overall SPT sales in volume on the Community market decreased from 2001 to the IP by 15 %, at the same time, Community consumption decreased by only 8 % and hence the Community industry experienced a loss of market share amounting to 3 percentage points. The market share dropped from 40,1 % in 2001 to 36,7 % in the IP.

Table 8

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Sales in the EC (tonnes)	862 054	725 145	683 985	729 555
Index	100	84	79	85
Market share	40,1 %	39,1 %	36,9 %	36,7 %

Prices

• (164) The Community industry's average unit selling price increased by 10 % over the period considered as a result of the increased cost of raw material, which impacted the whole industry.

• (165) After a 4 % increase in average prices from EUR 672 in 2001 to EUR 701 in 2002, prices hit rock bottom at EUR 651 in 2003, after which they considerably increased again in the IP when they reached EUR 736.

• (166) Depending on the production process, the Community industry either used scrap or billets and ingots as raw material for the production of SPT. The raw material is the major cost driving component in the production cost of SPT and has a direct impact on the sales price evolution. Whereas in 2001 and 2002 raw material accounted for 35 % of the full production cost of SPT of the Community industry and for 38 % in 2003, during the IP the cost for raw material represented already 47 % of full cost.

• (167) Indeed, it was found that average prices of raw materials went up sharply during 2004, which was reflected in the higher sales prices of the Community industry and higher import prices alike.

Table 9

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Weighted average price (EUR/tonne)	672	701	651	736
Index	100	104	97	110

Profitability and cash flow

• (168) During the period considered the weighted average profitability on net turnover of the Community industry decreased sharply from 3 % in 2001 to – 10 % in the IP. The trend in profitability does not develop in line with the trend in sales value. Profitability of the product concerned was indeed more negative during the IP than in any of the three preceding years, whereas sales actually increased in the IP compared to the levels in 2002 and 2003. The reason for this development is that the increase in raw material prices could not be completely reflected in sales prices. Indeed, the increased costs of raw materials could not be passed on to the end customers due to the low price level of imports from the countries concerned.

Table 10

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Pre-tax profit margin	3 %	–9 %	–5 %	–10 %

• (169) The Community industry generated a negative cash flow of EUR –16 735 140 during the IP. The liquidity of the Community industry turned very negative in 2003, after which the cash flow situation somewhat improved, but still remained far from re-gaining a positive level. Cash flow had to be calculated on the basis of the net profit before tax for the product sold in and outside the Community which was positive in 2002 (EUR 26 million) but turned into a major net loss in 2003 (minus 86 million) which explains the massive drop in cash flow between 2002 and 2003. The trend in cash flow did not evolve in line with the trend in profitability as depreciation, which is typically high for this capital intensive industry, declined between 2002 and 2003 from EUR 51 795 853 to EUR 48 276 850, but increased again in the IP to EUR 58 820 712. However, the cash flow situation remained negative during the IP.

Table 11

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Cash flow (EUR)	68 221 405	83 464 355	–35 612 924	–16 735 140
Index	100	122	–52	–25

Return on net assets

• (170) The return on net assets was calculated by expressing the pre-tax net profit of the like product sold in and outside the Community as a percentage of the net book value of fixed assets allocated to the like product sold in and outside the EC. The negative evolution of this indicator after 2001 is caused, on the one hand, by the declining investments in the like product from 2001 to the IP, and, on the other hand, by the pre-tax profit of the like product sold in and outside the Community, which was still positive in 2001 and 2002, but turned negative in 2003. Return on assets albeit improving in the IP compared to 2003, it still only reached – 11 % during the IP. The profit figure used for determining this factor was the profit obtained both of the Community industry's domestic sales and export sales. This was necessary because the assets were used for both sales channels and an allocation to the assets was impossible.

Table 12

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Return on net assets	10 %	6 %	–18 %	–11 %

Ability to raise capital

• (171) With the exception of one company, there was no claim from the Community industry nor indication that the Community industry encountered problems to raise capital for its activities and it was therefore concluded that the Community industry, as a whole, was in a position to raise capital for its activities throughout the period considered.

Employment and wages

• (172) Employment in the Community industry decreased by 13 % and labour cost declined by 9 % during the period considered.

Table 13

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Employees	6 058	5 424	5 276	5 245
Index	100	90	87	87
Labour cost (EUR/year)	275 296 896	251 059 144	244 153 692	249 190 971
Index	100	91	89	91

Productivity

• (173) Productivity measured in output (production) per employee per year amounted to the same level in the IP as in 2001, after a decrease in 2002 and 2003.

Table 14

	2001	2002	2003	IP
Productivity (tonnes/employee)	247	217	213	246
Index	100	88	86	100

Growth

• (174) While Community consumption decreased by 8 % between 2001 and the IP, the sales volume of the Community industry to unrelated and related customers decreased by 15 %. On the other hand, the market share of imports from the four countries concerned went up by 7,3 percentage points. Thus, sales by the Community industry declined much more sharply than the demand during the period considered.

Magnitude of the dumping margin and recovery from past dumping

• (175) As concerns the impact on the Community industry of the magnitude of the actual margin of dumping, given the volume and the prices of the imports from the four countries concerned, this impact cannot be considered negligible.

• (176) As demonstrated in the analysis of the injury indicators above, the economic and financial situation of the Community industry did not improve further to the imposition of anti-dumping measures on imports of parts of the product concerned from Russia and Romania in 1997 and from Croatia and Ukraine in February 2000. They also evidence that the Community is still in a fragile and vulnerable situation.

Conclusion on injury

• (177) The analysis of the injury indicators revealed that the situation of the Community industry deteriorated significantly after 2001 and reached rock bottom in 2003. During the IP, the injury indicators showed an improvement compared to the extremely bad situation in 2003. The improved situation in the IP can be linked to a generally better market situation in the IP and in particular to the higher demand for SPT products by the oil and gas industries. However, the Community industry was by far not able to get back to the level of 2001, i.e. prior to the increase of dumped imports. In this respect, it is noted that the increase of sales prices observed in the IP was not even sufficient to fully reflect the increased costs of raw materials, let alone to improve the situation of the Community industry.

• (178) It is true that at first sight some injury indicators showed a stable (ability to raise capital, employment) or even positive (average sales prices) development. However, most other injury indicators (e.g. profitability, investments, production and sales volumes) showed a clear negative evolution over the period considered, albeit slightly improving during the IP as compared to the preceding year. However, this improvement does not change the picture as the most relevant injury indicators remain negative.

• (179) As far as the positive development in prices is concerned, the price increase during the IP cannot be attributed to an improvement of the situation of the Community industry, but was a mere consequence of the increased prices of raw materials. Moreover, the above factors showing a stable development do not determine the overall state of the Community industry. Indeed, given the vastly negative development of the profit-related indicators, the viability of the industry is even at stake if — in the medium term if not before — this situation is not remedied.

• (180) Following the disclosure of definitive findings, some exporting producers argued that the Community industry was not suffering from material injury during the IP. It was claimed that publicly available data suggested that the Community industry was in a sound financial situation and that sales and profitability of the Community industry showed a positive trend during the IP.

• (181) It is noted that annual financial results of some Community producers were indeed positive during the IP, sales volumes increased and profitable results were achieved. However, whereas the overall financial situation of some Community producers in the IP has in fact been favourable, the relevant analysis must be based on the financial performance of the Community industry with regard to the production and sales in the Community market of the like product. As the like product does not account for the entire production volume of the Community industry neither of their entire sales in the Community, it was found that despite the overall good performance of some Community producers of SPT, material injury existed as far as the like product sold in the Community was concerned.

• (182) In the light of the foregoing, it is concluded that the Community industry has suffered material injury within the meaning of Article 3(6) of the basic Regulation.

CAUSATIONIntroduction

• (183) In accordance with Article 3(6) and 3(7) of the basic Regulation, the Commission have examined whether the dumped imports of the product concerned originating in the countries concerned have caused injury to the Community industry to a degree that enables it to be classified as material. Known factors other than the dumped imports, which could at the same time be injuring the Community industry, were also examined to ensure that possible injury caused by these other factors was not attributed to the dumped imports.

Effect of the dumped imports

• (184) Imports from the four countries concerned increased considerably during the period considered, i.e. by 40 % in terms of volume, and by 7,3 percentage points in terms of market share. At the same time, average prices of imports originating in the four countries concerned undercut the average Community industry prices by 32 % in the IP. The price increase of the dumped imports noticed during the IP merely reflected the increase of costs of raw materials. The substantial increase in the volume of imports of the four countries concerned and their gain in market share during the period under consideration, at prices which remained well below those of the Community industry, coincided with the evident deterioration of the overall financial situation of the Community industry during the same period.

• (185) Unit prices of the Community industry also increased over the period under consideration by 10 %. However, these prices were depressed and could not even cover the massive increase of cost of raw materials as evidenced by the significant level of losses incurred by the Community industry.

• (186) Based on the above considerations, it would appear that the low-priced imports from the four countries concerned have had a determining role in the deterioration of the situation of the Community industry, which is reflected in particular in the insufficient development of sales prices as well as in the decrease of production, sales volumes, market share, and in the sharp decrease of profitability and diminishing investments.

Effect of other factors

Decrease in the EC consumption

• (187) Community consumption decreased by 8 % during the period considered. However, the decrease in consumption in itself cannot be considered as the determining cause of the injurious situation of the Community industry as sales of the Community industry declined in relative terms more than consumption during the period considered (respectively – 16 % and – 14 % between 2001 and the end of the IP). Moreover, it was shown that imports from the countries concerned increased in the period considered and were thus taking over the Community industry's lost market share. For these reasons, it was found that the decrease of consumption could not have been a substantial cause of the injury suffered by the Community industry.

Imports originating in third countries other than the four countries concerned

• (188) According to Eurostat and to the information collected during the investigation, the main third countries from which SPT are imported are Japan, Argentina and the USA.

• (189) Imports from Japan amounted to 52 960 tonnes in 2001 and decreased by 34 % to 34 857 tonnes over the period considered. The market share of Japanese imports of the product concerned amounted to 2,5 % in 2001, which declined to 1,8 % in the IP. Japanese imports were made at prices which at least doubled those of the Community industry. Hence imports from Japan were not considered as having had a negative effect on the situation of the Community industry.

• (190) Imports from Argentina increased by 52 %, from 30 962 tonnes in 2001 to 46 918 tonnes in the IP. This corresponds to a market share which increased by one percentage point from 1,4 % in 2001 to 2,4 % in the IP. The price level of imports from Argentina remained throughout the period considered well above the one of the four countries considered, e.g. in the IP the average CIF price per tonne of imports from Argentina amounted to EUR 660, whereas the weighted average CIF price of the four countries concerned was EUR 501 per tonne. In the course of the analysis the fact that one Community producer is related to an exporting producer located in Argentina has been taken into consideration. It was, however, demonstrated that the SPT imported by this Community producer from its related company in Argentina, were neither in terms of quantities nor prices a determining reason for the injurious situation of this particular Community producer and of the Community imports were industry as a whole.

• (191) As to the USA, Eurostat statistics show that the market share of imports of SPT from the USA increased from 0,6 % in 2001 to 1,8 % in the IP. Average selling prices of US at the beginning of the period under consideration at EUR 2 414 per tonne, i.e. almost four times higher than those of the Community industry and subsequently decreased hugely by 77 % to EUR 797 per tonne during the IP, still exceeding the Community industry's prices by 8 %. Therefore, despite the increased imports from the USA, given their price level, they cannot be considered as a substantial cause of the injury suffered by the Community industry.

• (192) It was claimed that imports from Argentina and United States have been steadily increasing since 2001 and that their combined market share exceeded 4 % in the IP and that US prices remained below those charged by exporting producers in three out of the four countries concerned.

• (193) The allegation that US prices were lower than those charged by three out of the four countries concerned is not borne out by the facts. More generally, it was concluded that in particular in view of their high price levels, these imports cannot be regarded as a determining cause of the injury.

• (194) One exporting producer claimed that the Community industry was primarily active in the production and sales of high end product categories (OCTGs) which would compete with imports from Japan, Argentina and the United States. It was argued that imports from these three countries combined represented an increase of market share of 1,5 percentage points between 2001 and the IP and that imports from these three countries were replacing SPT produced by the Community industry rather than SPT imported from Russia and Ukraine.

• (195) It is pointed out that the Community industry despite more putting more emphasis on the production of high end added value products, continues producing all different types of SPT, including low end products in substantial quantities. As a matter of fact, OCTGs only represent a small share of the Community industry's activities, namely 5 % of the total sales volume and 7 % of the total sales value of the like product sold on the Community market during the IP. The increase of the combined market share of Japan, Argentina and the United States by 1,5 percentage points from 4,5 % in 2001 to 6,0 % in the IP can, if at all, only be linked to a minor degree to the more pronounced loss of market share of the Community industry during the same period, i.e. from 40,1 % to 36,7 %. Consequently, the claim that imports of these three countries caused material injury to the Community industry has to be rejected.

• (196) One exporting producer claimed that the Commission services omitted to take into account the impact of SPT imports from the new Member States. Mainly for Slovakia, it was argued that these imports were previously found to have been made into the EC at injurious dumped prices. Such imports were subject to anti-dumping duties which lapsed as a result of enlargement in the middle of the IP. It was also claimed that such imports were the cause of the loss in market share of the Community industry.

• (197) However, it is noted that sales volume from the Community industry and from other European producers (including Slovakia) decreased respectively by around 133 000 tonnes and by 112 000 tonnes between 2001 and 2004, whereas, at the same time, the imports from the four countries concerned increased by around 120 000 tonnes ([^E0013]).

• (198) As to the imports from Slovakia before enlargement, it cannot be claimed that such imports could cause injurious dumping to the Community Industry for the period 2001 until enlargement (i.e. 1st May 2004) since they were subject to anti-dumping duties re-establishing a level playing field with the Community Industry. Any possible effect of these sales inside the EU-25 as from 1st of May is not considered such as to reverse the injury findings or break the causal link between the dumped imports from the four countries under investigation and the injury suffered by the Community Industry. Indeed, an analysis of imports of the product concerned from Slovakia into the Community market before and after enlargement based on Eurostat showed that in the year of accession, these imports of the product concerned in the rest of the Community market (EU-24) increased by 7 % or 5 911 tonnes compared to the year before accession. This increase in volume is very small as compared to the development of imports from the four countries concerned.

• (199) Given the above, it is concluded that the market share of the Community industry did not diminish as a result of intra-Community competition.

• (200) Therefore, the claim that intra-community competition could be the cause of the decrease of loss of market share of the Community industry is hereby rejected.

Market cyclicality and exchange rates

• (201) In reaction to the disclosure of definitive findings, one exporting producer stated that the factor of cyclicality of the steel market had not be taken into account as required by Article 3(7) of the basic Regulation.

• (202) In this respect it is noted that the exporting producer did not submit any evidence to substantiate the claim that the cyclicality of the steel market has caused the injurious situation of the Community industry. In addition, it is noted that the cyclicality of the steel market should have an impact on the Community industry and exporting producers alike. Hence, a downward cycle in the SPT market which allegedly had a negative impact on the state of the Community industry should have also had a negative impact on the volume of SPT imports, i.e. import volumes from the four countries concerned should have decreased. However, as described in recital (151), cumulated import volumes of the four countries concerned increased every single year from 2001 to 2004. Therefore, it is concluded that the cyclicality of the steel market cannot be considered as having caused the injury suffered by the Community industry.

• (203) One company claimed that the fall in the value of the USD versus the EUR from 2001 to the IP had an impact on the situation of the Community industry without providing any evidence that these exchange rate fluctuations actually had a negative impact on the performance of the Community industry. In the absence of any substantiated information showing that the injury situation of the Community industry has been influenced by a appreciation of the EUR against the USD, it is concluded that exchange rate fluctuation did not break the causal link between dumped imports and the injurious situation of the Community industry. Moreover, the analysis of the Community industry was based on the financial performance of the like product produced and sold in the Community market. As the vast majority of sales of the like product in the Community market was invoiced in EUR and as all major production expenses were also primarily made in EUR, exchange rate fluctuations did in any case not have a major impact on the injurious situation of the Community industry.

• (204) In view of the above described evolution of volumes, price and market shares of imports originating in other third countries, it is concluded that the material injury suffered by the Community industry cannot be attributed to these imports.

Increase of raw material prices

• (205) It has been claimed by two exporting producers that the decrease in profitability was a result of the rise in raw material cost and could therefore not be linked with dumped imports from the countries concerned. Indeed, the cost for scrap or billets which are the main raw materials for the production of SPT increased significantly over the period considered. It was evidenced by two Community producers that the price of scrap increased between the last quarter of 2003 and the last quarter of the IP by 66 % and 77 % respectively. One Community producer demonstrated that over the whole period considered, from 2001 until the IP, the scrap price more than doubled from EUR 99 per tonne in 2001 to EUR 253 per tonne in the IP. A similar price trend could be observed with regard to average prices of billets.

• (206) However, material injury to the Community industry was not caused by the increased raw material prices as such, but as explained in recital (168), by the fact that the Community industry was unable to pass on these higher costs to the customers. Indeed, due to the dumped imports from the countries concerned which substantially undercut the Community industry's prices, the Community industry could not increase its sales prices to an amount which would have duly reflected the increase of raw material prices.

• (207) Following the disclosure of definitive findings, one exporting producer claimed that it was incorrect to state that profitability decreased in the IP because Community producers were unable, due to the price pressure from dumped imports, to increase prices at such levels as to cover the increase in raw materials. According to this company, the price of raw materials (scrap) in the IP increased by 15,8 %. It was argued that prices of dumped imports increased in excess of the increase of the costs of raw materials.

• (208) However, as mentioned above, evidence obtained in the course of the investigation showed that the cost increase of raw material of the Community producers was far higher than the alleged 15,8 % during the IP. Based on the information provided by some Community producers, it was also found that the increase in raw material prices exceeded the increase of the weighted average price of SPT from the four countries concerned throughout the period considered. Therefore, the argument is maintained that due to the price pressure from dumped imports, the Community producers were unable to increase prices and render sales profitable.

Anti-competitive behaviour of certain Community producers

• (209) Anti-dumping measures in force since 1997 on the original product scope concerning Romania and Russia are no longer applied since July 2004 as a matter of prudence in connection with an anti-competitive behaviour of certain Community producers in the past.

• (210) Some exporting producers and importers requested that the extent to which the cartel formed by certain Community producers could have had an impact on the performance of the overall Community industry be investigated.

• (211) In this regard, it was found that there was no overlap in time between the duration of the infringement of some Community producers (1990 until 1995 and, for certain products, until 1999) and the period considered (2001 until 2004) of the present anti-dumping proceeding. Moreover, no information has been found during the investigation that prices of the Community industry or other injury indicators were influenced by any anti-competitive behaviour Given the above, and in the absence of any information or indication to the contrary, it can be concluded that the cartel formed by certain Community producers before 2001 did not have an effect on the injurious situation of the Community industry during the period considered.

• (212) Following the disclosure of definitive finding, one exporting producer claimed that the Commission services failed to examine the likely effects of recovery to normal competitive conditions of the Community industry following the end of the cartel behaviour in 1999. It was argued that the overlap in time of the cartel behaviour and the period under consideration of the present proceeding was irrelevant and that the Commission services had erred in its assessment with respect to the analysis of injury and causality and may have violated Article 3(7) of the basic Regulation.

• (213) Firstly, it is underlined that only a small part of the product concerned, namely OCTGs (classified under CN 7304210020 and CN 7304291120) was concerned by the cartel proceeding. During the IP, the volume of OCTGs sold in the Community market represented only 5 % of the total sales volume of the Community industry.

• (214) Moreover, it is considered that the two years period between the end of the cartel behaviour and the beginning of the period used for the injury determination is sufficient as to have allowed for a return to normal competitive conditions for the Community industry. However, the situation during the IP was injurious.

• (215) Given the above, this claim is rejected.

Conclusion on causation

• (216) The coincidence in time between, on the one hand, the increase in dumped imports from the countries concerned, the increase in market shares and the undercutting found and, on the other hand, the evident deterioration in the situation of the Community industry, leads to the conclusion that the dumped imports caused the material injury suffered by the Community industry within the meaning of Article 3(6) of the basic Regulation.

COMMUNITY INTEREST

• (217) In accordance with Article 21 of the basic Regulation, it has to be examined whether, despite the conclusion on injurious dumping, compelling reasons exist for concluding that it is not in the Community interest to adopt measures in this particular case. The likely impact of possible measures on all parties involved in the proceeding and also the consequences of not taking measures have to be considered in this respect.

Community industry

• (218) The injurious situation of the Community industry resulted from its difficulty to compete with the low-priced, dumped imports.

• (219) It is considered that the imposition of measures will enable the Community industry to increase the volume of its sales and market share and thereby generating better economies of scale and thus the necessary profit level to justify continued investment in its production facilities.

• (220) Should measures not be imposed, the deterioration of the situation of the Community industry would continue. It would not be able to invest in new production capacity and to compete effectively with imports from third countries. Some companies would have to cease the production of the like product and lay off their employees. It is therefore concluded that the imposition of anti-dumping measures is in the interest of the Community industry.

• (221) One non-complainant producer in the Community which is related to an exporting producer in Romania claimed that producers in the Community would already work at full production capacity and would not be able to meet the high demand for SPT on the Community market and in third countries. The company argued that consequently the imposition of duties would lead to a shortage of supply on the Community market. However, as stated above, the investigation revealed that throughout the period considered, the Community industry had significant spare production capacity which could be used in the future to produce the product concerned in order to meet the demand for SPT on the Community market.

• (222) It was also claimed that the imposition of measures would result in a limitation of competition on the Community market. It is noted that besides the complaining producers, there are several significant other producers of the product concerned in the new Member States as mentioned in recital (139). The number of producers in the Community is considered such as to ensure competition within this market, even with the imposition of anti-dumping measures. Furthermore, as mentioned in recitals (188) to (195), producers in other third countries (e.g. in the USA) are also competing with the Community industry with similar products and prices. Therefore it is considered that the imposition of measures will neither jeopardize the supply of SPT nor restrict competition on the Community market.

Interest of unrelated importers

• (223) As far as importers are concerned, only three unrelated importers replied to the questionnaire and a verification visit was subsequently carried out to two of them. A fourth unrelated importer accepted a verification visit at a late stage in the proceeding. The volumes of the product concerned imported by these four importers represented 8 % of the total imports in the Community and 3 % of the Community consumption.

• (224) In view of the fact that the majority of all imports of SPT into the Community is channelled through importers which are related to exporting producers and less than half of all imports enter the Community market through unrelated importers, the imports of the four unrelated importers can be considered as representative for all other unrelated importers.

• (225) For one of the importers, imports of the product concerned represented 22 % of its total imports of SPT and the corresponding sales value represented 3 % of its total turnover during the IP. These sales were highly profitable during the IP. Taking into account that the majority of suppliers of this company are located in the Community or in countries not concerned by the imposition of anti-dumping duties, the impact of the imposition of anti-dumping measures cannot be considered as significant.

• (226) A second importer whose main activity consisted in importing and transforming SPT, imported all SPT from the countries concerned, in particular from Russia. A small part of these imports consisted of so-called ‘certified tubes’ It is thus considered that an imposition of duties on imports from Russia will have a negative impact on the overall business activity and particularly on the profitability of this company. However, taking into consideration that there is currently besides this importer only one other supplier of certified SPT in the Community, it is very likely that any price increase due to the anti-dumping duty on this product can be passed on to the final customer. Furthermore, the company would also be able to source at least a part of its purchases from a local supplier in the Community or to substitute part of their purchases with other products than the product concerned.

• (227) The other two cooperating importers whose import volumes represented also only a minor share of the total import volume of the product concerned during the IP considered themselves as not affected by an imposition of duties.

• (228) In the light of the above, it is considered that importers would be affected differently by the imposition of anti-dumping measures depending on their individual situation. It can thus be concluded that the imposition of measures may indeed possibly have a significant negative effect on the financial situation of one importer. On average however, it is not expected that measures have a significant financial impact on the overall situation of the importers.

Interest of users

• (229) No user of the product concerned replied to the questionnaire sent by the Commission. However, the investigation showed that SPT are used mainly by construction and oil companies. According to the information available, SPT are part of larger projects (boilers, pipelines, construction) of which they form only a limited part. Therefore, it was concluded that the impact on costs resulting from the imposition of antidumping measures on SPT would very likely not result in a significant impact in the costs of such users, and thus giving a possible explanation to the lack of cooperation of users in the present proceeding.

• (230) On the basis of the above findings, and in the absence of any other element or reaction from consumer organisations, it is concluded that the impact of the proposed measures on the consumers is likely to be marginal.

• (231) Therefore, it is concluded that there are no compelling reasons on the grounds of Community interest, why anti-dumping duties should not be imposed.

DEFINITIVE ANTI-DUMPING MEASURESInjury elimination level

• (232) In order to prevent further injury being caused by the dumped imports, it is considered appropriate to adopt anti-dumping measures.

• (233) The measures should be imposed at a level sufficient to eliminate the injury caused by these imports without exceeding the dumping margin found. When calculating the amount of duty necessary to remove the effects of the injurious dumping, it was considered that any measures should allow the Community industry to cover its costs of production and to obtain overall a profit before tax that could be reasonably achieved by an industry of this type in the sector under normal conditions of competition, i.e. in the absence of dumped imports, on the sales of the like product in the Community. Taking into account the average level of profitability obtained by the Community industry in 2001, it was found that a profit margin of 3 % of turnover could be regarded as an appropriate minimum which the Community industry could have expected to obtain in the absence of injurious dumping. The necessary price increase was then determined on the basis of a comparison of the weighted average import price, as established for the price undercutting calculations, with the non-injurious price of products sold by the Community industry on the Community market. The non-injurious price has been obtained by adjusting the sales price of the Community industry by the actual loss/profit made during the IP and by adding the above mentioned profit margin. Any difference resulting from this comparison was then expressed as a percentage of the total CIF import value.

Definitive measures

• (234) In the light of the foregoing, it is considered that in accordance with the Article 9 of the basic Regulation, definitive anti-dumping measures on imports of the product concerned should be imposed at the level of the lowest of the dumping and the injury margins found, in accordance with the lesser duty rule.

• (235) As the injury elimination levels are higher than the dumping margins established, the definitive measures should be based on the latter. The residual dumping margins were set at the level for the company with the highest individual margin in each country.

• (236) The following duty rates, expressed as a percentage of the CIF Community border price, customs duty unpaid, are as follows:

Country	Company	Rate of duty (%)
Croatia	All companies	29,8 %
Romania	S.C. T.M.K. — Artrom S.A.	17,8 %
Romania	S.C. Mittal Steel Roman S.A.	17,7 %
Romania	S.C. Silcotub S.A.	11,7 %
Romania	All other companies	17,8 %
Russia	Joint Stock Company Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Joint Stock Company Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works	24,1 %
Russia	All other companies	35,8 %
Ukraine	OJSC Dnepropetrovsk Tube Works	12,3 %
Ukraine	CJSC Nikopolsky Seamless Tubes Plant Niko Tube and OJSC Nizhnedneprovsky Tube Rolling Plant	25,1 %
Ukraine	CJSC Nikopol Steel Pipe Plant Yutist	25,7 %
Ukraine	All other companies	25,7 %

• (237) The individual company specific anti-dumping duties specified in this Regulation were established on the basis of the findings of the present investigation. Therefore, they reflect the situation found during the investigation with respect to these companies. These duties (as opposed to the country-wide duty applicable to ‘all other companies’) are thus exclusively applicable to imports of products originating in the country concerned and produced by the companies and thus by the specific legal entities mentioned. Imported products produced by any other company not specifically mentioned in the operative part of this Regulation with its name, included entities related to those specifically mentioned, cannot benefit from these duties and shall be subject to the duties applicable to ‘all other companies’.

• (238) Any claim requesting the application of these individual company anti-dumping duty rates (e.g. following a change in the name of the entity or following the setting up of new production or sales entities) should be addressed to the Commission ([^E0014]) forthwith with all relevant information, in particular any modification in the company's activities linked to production, domestic and export sales associated with e.g. that name change or that change in the production and sales entities. If warranted, the appropriate arrangements will be made, including by updating the list of companies benefiting from individual duty rates. In order to ensure a proper enforcement of the anti-dumping duty, the country-wide duty level should not only apply to the non-cooperating exporter, but also to those companies which did not have any exports during the IP. However, the latter companies are invited, when they fulfil the requirements of Article 11(4) of the basic Regulation, second paragraph, to present a request for a review pursuant to that Article in order to have their situation examined individually.

• (239) As far as the identification of the CEV threshold by Custom authorities at the Community border is concerned, the identification of the CEV can be done indirectly through the verification of the 11 CN codes under which the product concerned is classified. Throughout the period considered, 99,9 % of all imports of the product concerned were SPT with a CEV below the 0,86 threshold. Therefore, it was concluded that all SPT imports from the countries concerned under the 11 CN codes should be considered as the product concerned, except in those very rare cases when the importer is able to demonstrate that the CEV of the goods imported exceeds the 0,86 threshold.

Exemption request

• (240) One importer who imported so-called ‘certified SPT’ in the Community suggested that his company should be excluded from the application of the anti-dumping duty. However, the company has not invoked any reasons on the basis of which such an individual exemption would be justified. It should be noted that this importer was importing dumped SPT which caused injury to the Community industry and that there was therefore no reason to grant any individual exemption to this company. Furthermore, it was considered that exempting this importer from the anti-dumping duties would constitute an inappropriate high risk of circumvention of the measures. Indeed, since also certified tubes can be used in a variety of applications, it could not be sufficiently ensured that these imports would only be used in construction works in Italy.

Partial suspension request

• (241) Following the disclosure of definitive findings, one importer requested a nine-month (extendable for a further period of 12 months) partial suspension of the duties on certain imports of the product concerned, produced by the Russian exporting producer TMK, classified under CN code 7304 39 92 and certified by the Italian Ministry of Labour for utilisation in public construction works in Italy.

• (242) The importer argued that a partial suspension would be justified on grounds of Community interest according to Article 14(4) of the basic Regulation. It was claimed that without the partial suspension of measures the importer would stop importing certified tubes and consequently only one single company producing certified SPT would be left in Italy which would hence constitute a monopoly.

• (243) The importer claimed that the partial suspension of measures would not cause any injury to the alleged single Community producer whose production volume of certified SPT allegedly only covers approximately two thirds of the annual demand of certified SPT in Italy. The importer argued further that a partial suspension of the measures could be easily monitored by Italian customs through a simple verification of the certification documents which have to be presented to customs at each import transaction.

• (244) As far as the argument is concerned that the non-partial suspension of measures would create a monopoly in the Community market, it is noted that whereas during the IP two producer existed in Italy producing certified SPT since the end of 2005 there is indeed only one company left. However, it could be shown that during the IP dumped imports of certified tubes from Russia undercut prices of certified tubes produced by the Community industry to such extent that the Community producers were not able to compete with these dumped imports and consequently had to cease or sharply reduce the production of certified SPT. As the fact that only one Community producer of certified SPT remained in the Community market was actually a consequence of dumped imports of certified SPT from Russia, the argument that partially suspending the duties would not cause any injury to the Community industry has to be rejected. On the contrary, it is expected that the imposition of duties will lead to an increase of competition and the re-entry of other Community producers of certified tubes in the Community market.

• (245) Whereas it is acknowledged that the monitoring of the partial suspension could in principle be feasible by customs authorities in Italy, the requested partial suspension has also to be rejected on the same grounds as the exemption request mentioned before in recital (240). Granting a partial suspension of measures for one individual importer would constitute an inappropriate high risk of circumvention, as certified SPT imported by this company could also be used for other purposes than in construction works in Italy.

Undertakings

• (246) The same importer suggested that an undertaking should be accepted from its supplying Russian exporting producer. The undertaking should set a duty free import volume with a quantitative ceiling. The importer argued that imports up to such quantity would be used solely in public construction projects in Italy. Therefore, these imports would not cause any injury to Community industry. Furthermore, there would be insufficient supply of certified SPT in the Community. However, it should be noted that in accordance with Article 8(1) of the basic Regulation only exporting producers can offer undertakings, but not importers. Therefore, this request was rejected.

• (247) Following the disclosure of essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was intended to recommend the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties, the majority of exporting producers in the countries concerned offered price undertakings in accordance with Article 8(1) of the basic Regulation.

• (248) However, the product concerned is characterised by a considerable number of product types with some characteristics not easily discernible upon importation. This makes it virtually impossible to establish minimum prices for each product type which would be meaningful and could be properly monitored by the Commission and by the customs authorities of the Member States upon importation. Moreover, the product concerned has shown in the last years a considerable volatility in prices and therefore it is not suitable for a fixed price undertaking for an extended period of time. The volatility in prices is due to the volatility of raw material prices, namely metal billets, ingots or steel scrap, which constitute major but variant components of the cost of production. If the minimum import prices were indexed to the price of one of the raw materials, different indexing formulae would have to be established by sub-product group making the determination of the parameters of indexation formulae and the monitoring of the undertakings extremely complex.

• (249) In addition, it is recalled that undertakings were accepted in the past for certain products falling within the product scope of the current investigation. Those undertakings that were based on the principle that prices per product group would fall in line with the price structure in use in the Community proved to be very difficult to monitor by the Commission or were found to have failed to raise prices to non-injurious levels that would restore fair trade on the Community market ([^E0015]).

• (250) Moreover, in a number of cases the product classification proposed was not sufficiently detailed to allow a proper monitoring, or the price level proposed did not allow for the removal of injurious dumping.

• (251) In view of the above, in particular the difficulties in monitoring the different minimum import prices, it is considered that undertakings are not workable in principle. However, given the upcoming accession of Romania to the Community, the duration of the measures against Romania will be limited in time. Therefore, the risk of circumvention of the minimum import prices by the Romanian exporters is limited and so is the potential for significant changes of the prices. Accordingly the Commission by its Decision 2006/441/EC of 23 June 2006 ([^E0016]) accepting undertakings offered in connection with the anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes, of iron or steel, originating, inter alia, in Romania, accepted the undertaking offers of the Romanian exporting producers. The reasons for accepting this undertaking are set out in more detail in this Regulation. The Commission recognises that the undertaking offers eliminate the injurious effect of dumping and limit to a significant degree the risk of circumvention.

• (252) To further enable the Commission and the customs authorities to effectively monitor the compliance of the companies with the undertakings, when the request for release for free circulation is presented to the relevant customs authority, exemption from the anti-dumping duty is to be conditional on (i) the presentation of an undertaking invoice, which is a commercial invoice containing at least the elements listed and the declaration stipulated in the Annex; (ii) the fact that imported goods are manufactured, shipped and invoiced directly by the said companies to the first independent customer in the Community; and (iii) the fact that the goods declared and presented to customs correspond precisely to the description on the undertaking invoice. Where the above conditions are not met the appropriate anti-dumping duty shall be incurred at the time of acceptance of the declaration for release into free circulation.

• (253) Whenever the Commission withdraws, pursuant to Article 8(9) of the basic Regulation, its acceptance of an undertaking following a breach by referring to particular transactions and declares the relevant undertaking invoices as invalid, a customs debt shall be incurred at the time of acceptance of the declaration for release into free circulation of these transactions.

• (254) Importers should be aware that a customs debt may be incurred, as a normal trade risk, at the time of acceptance of the declaration for release into free circulation as described in recitals (252) and (253) even if an undertaking offered by the manufacturer from whom they were buying, directly or indirectly, had been accepted by the Commission.

• (255) Pursuant to Article 14(7) of the basic Regulation, customs authorities should inform the Commission immediately whenever indications of a violation of the undertaking are found.

• (256) For the reasons stated above the undertakings offered by the Romanian exporting producers are therefore considered acceptable by the Commission and the companies concerned have been informed of the essential facts, considerations and obligations upon which acceptance is based. However, for the reasons stated above the undertakings offered by the Russian and Ukrainian exporting producers are not acceptable.

• (257) It should be noted that in the event of a breach or withdrawal of the undertaking or a suspected breach, an anti-dumping duty may be imposed, pursuant to Articles 8(9) and (10) of the basic Regulation.

Conclusion regarding the two interim reviews and existing measures

• (258) It is recalled that, as mentioned in recital (3), two interim reviews were initiated on the Commission's own initiative, to allow for any amendment or repeal of the existing definitive anti-dumping measures in force on imports of the original product scope from Croatia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.

• (259) On the basis of the findings of the present investigation, measures should be imposed on imports of SPT as defined in recital (17) originating in Croatia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. As the product concerned as defined in section 2.1 covers also the product scope of the already existing measures, the continued imposition of measures imposed on the original product scope by Regulation (EC) No 2320/97 and Regulation (EC) No 348/2000, is no longer appropriate and therefore those Regulations, as amended, should be repealed.

• (260) In parallel, the two interim reviews aforementioned, as well as the interim and expiry reviews initiated in November 2002 and referred to in section 1.2 should be terminated.

• (261) Furthermore, the Regulation (EC) No 1866/2005 extending the partial suspension of measures on the original product scope from Croatia and Ukraine becomes obsolete following the repeal of Regulation (EC) No 348/2000,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

A definitive anti-dumping duty is hereby imposed on imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, of circular cross-section, of an external diameter not exceeding 406,4 mm with a Carbon Equivalent Value (CEV) not exceeding 0,86 according to the International Institute of Welding (IIW) formula and chemical analysis ([^E0017]) falling within CN codes ex730410 10, ex730410 30, ex730421 00, ex730429 11, ex730431 80, ex730439 58, ex730439 92, ex730439 93, ex730451 89, ex730459 92 and ex730459 93 ([^E0018]) (TARIC codes 7304101020, 7304103020, 7304210020, 7304291120, 7304318030, 7304395830, 7304399230, 7304399320, 7304518930, 7304599230 and 7304599320) and originating in Croatia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.

The rate of the definitive anti-dumping duty applicable to the net, free-at-Community-frontier price, before duty, of the products described above and manufactured by the companies below shall be as follows:

Country	Company	Anti-dumping duty	TARIC Additional code
Croatia	All companies	29,8 %
Romania	S.C. T.M.K. — Artrom S.A.	17,8 %	A738
Romania	S.C. Mittal Steel Roman S.A.	17,7 %	A739
Romania	S.C. Silcotub S.A.	11,7 %	A740
Romania	All other companies	17,8 %	A999
Russia	Joint Stock Company Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Joint Stock Company Pervouralsky Novotrubny Works	24,1 %	A741
Russia
Russia	OAO Volzhsky Pipe Plant, OAO Taganrog Metallurgical Works, OAO Sinarsky Pipe Plant and OAO Seversky Tube Works	27,2 %	A859
All other companies	35,8 %	A999
Ukraine	OJSC Dnepropetrovsk Tube Works	12,3 %	A742
Ukraine	CJSC Nikopolsky Seamless Tubes Plant Niko Tube and OJSC Nizhnedneprovsky Tube Rolling Plant	25,1 %	A743
Ukraine	CJSC Nikopol Steel Pipe Plant Yutist	25,7 %	A744
Ukraine	All other companies	25,7 %	A999

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the definitive anti-dumping duty shall not apply to imports released for free circulation in accordance with Article 2.

Unless otherwise specified, the provisions in force concerning customs duties shall apply.

Article 2

• —they are manufactured, shipped and invoiced directly by the said companies to the first independent customer in the Community, and

• —such imports are accompanied by an undertaking invoice which is a commercial invoice containing at least the elements and the declaration stipulated in the Annex of this Regulation, and

• —the goods declared and presented to customs correspond precisely to the description on the undertaking invoice.

• —whenever it is established, in respect of imports described in paragraph 1, that one or more of the conditions listed in that paragraph are not fulfilled, or

• —when the Commission withdraws its acceptance of the undertaking pursuant to Article 8(9) of the basic Regulation in a Regulation or Decision which refers to particular transactions and declares the relevant undertaking invoices as invalid.

Article 3

Regulation (EC) No 2320/97 and Regulation (EC) No 348/2000 are hereby repealed.

Article 4

The interim reviews of the anti-dumping duties on imports of SPT of iron or non-alloy steel originating, inter alia, in Russia and Romania and in Croatia and Ukraine, initiated in March 2005, are hereby terminated.

The interim and expiry reviews, initiated in November 2002 and confirmed by recital (20) of Regulation (EC) No 1322/2004 to be ongoing, are hereby terminated.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX

The following elements shall be indicated in the commercial invoice accompanying the company's sales of certain seamless pipes and tubes, of iron or steel, to the Community which are subject to an undertaking:

• 1.The heading ‘COMMERCIAL INVOICE ACCOMPANYING GOODS SUBJECT TO AN UNDERTAKING’.

• 2.The name of the company mentioned in Article 1 of the Commission Decision 2006/441/EC accepting the undertaking issuing the commercial invoice.

• 3.The commercial invoice number.

• 4.The date of issue of the commercial invoice.

• 5.The TARIC additional code under which the goods on the invoice are to be customs cleared at the Community frontier.

• 6.The exact description of the goods, including: —Product code number (PCN) used for the purposes of the investigation and the undertaking (e.g. PCN 1, PCN 2, etc), —plain language description of the goods corresponding to the PCN concerned, —company product code (CPC) (if applicable), —CN code, —quantity (to be given in metric tonnes).

• 7.The description of the terms of the sale, including: —price per metric tonne, —the applicable payment terms, —the applicable delivery terms, —total discounts and rebates.

• 8.Name of the company acting as an importer in the Community to which the commercial invoice accompanying goods subject to an undertaking is issued directly by the company.

• 9.The name of the official of the company that has issued the invoice and the following signed declaration: ‘I, the undersigned, certify that the sale for direct export to the European Community of the goods covered by this invoice is being made within the scope and under the terms of the undertaking offered by [COMPANY], and accepted by the Commission through its Decision 2006/441/EC, I declare that the information provided in this invoice is complete and correct.’

[^E0001]: OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005 (OJ L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17).

[^E0002]: OJ C 77, 31.3.2005, p. 2.

[^E0003]: OJ L 322, 25.11.1997, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1322/2004 (OJ L 246, 20.7.2004, p. 10).

[^E0004]: OJ L 45, 17.2.2000, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 258/2005 (OJ L 46, 17.2.2005, p. 7).

[^E0005]: OJ L 322, 25.11.1997, p. 63.

[^E0006]: OJ L 23, 28.1.2000, p. 78.

[^E0007]: OJ L 246, 20.7.2004, p. 10.

[^E0008]: OJ C 288, 23.11.2002, p. 2.

[^E0009]: OJ L 46, 17.2.2005, p. 7.

[^E0010]: OJ L 46, 17.2.2005, p. 46.

[^E0011]: OJ L 300, 17.11.2005, p. 1.

[^E0012]: As defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1719/2005 of 27 October 2005 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 286, 28.10.2005, p. 1). The product coverage is determined in combining the product description in Article 1(1) and the product description of the corresponding CN codes taken together.

[^E0013]: Note that consumption went down by 165 000 tonnes between 2001 and 2004.

[^E0014]:

[^E0015]: See recital (137) of Regulation (EC) No 258/2005.

[^E0016]: See p. 81 of this Official Journal.

[^E0017]: The CEV shall be determined in accordance with Technical Report, 1967, IIW doc. IX-535-67, published by the International Institute of Welding (IIW).

[^E0018]: As defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1719/2005 of 27 October 2005 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 286, 28.10.2005, p. 1). The product coverage is determined in combining the product description in Article 1(1) and the product description of the corresponding CN codes taken together.

[^E0019]: See p. 81 of this Official Journal.