Chinese government considers prolonging acetone duties

Chinese mainland will on Saturday start investigating the possibility of prolonging anti-dumping duties on acetone imports from Japan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. The investigation is being conducted in response to domestic acetone producers that filed an application on April 3, the Ministry of Commerce said in an online statement. If it is found that lifting the duties could lead to dumping and damage, they may be prolonged, it said. The review will likely end before June 8, 2014 and the duties will not be lifted during the probe, the statement said. The five-year duties, with rates ranging from 5 percent to 51.6 percent, were launched on June 9, 2008. Acetone is a chemical material primarily used to produce bisphenol A and serves as an organic solvent. It is widely used in the medical and paint industries.