Sasol faces probe in China

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s petrochemicals firm Sasol and a number of other companies face a probe in China for dumping butanol in that country, the firm said yesterday.

Sasol spokesman Johann van Rheede said Beijing authorities had cited Sasol and companies from Japan, the European Union, the US, Malaysia and Russia as significantly increasing sales of the chemical solvent into China relative to its consumption. China said this had bred rife price under-cutting and depressed domestic prices of the commodity, which is used to make a wide range of plastic products, Van Rheede said.”We will obviously oppose the charge,” he said, but could not confirm a date for the hearing.”The authorities have requested an anti-dumping duty be imposed on the named countries,” he added.Sasol is the world’s top producer of synthetic fuel from coal.Its sizeable chemical division has a global footprint.Shares in Sasol traded 1,27 per cent higher by 0803 GMT at 223,60 rand, outperforming a 1,19 per cent rise in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange’s blue chip Top-40 index.- Nampa-ReutersChina said this had bred rife price under-cutting and depressed domestic prices of the commodity, which is used to make a wide range of plastic products, Van Rheede said.”We will obviously oppose the charge,” he said, but could not confirm a date for the hearing.”The authorities have requested an anti-dumping duty be imposed on the named countries,” he added.Sasol is the world’s top producer of synthetic fuel from coal.Its sizeable chemical division has a global footprint.Shares in Sasol traded 1,27 per cent higher by 0803 GMT at 223,60 rand, outperforming a 1,19 per cent rise in the Johannesburg Securities Exchange’s blue chip Top-40 index.- Nampa-Reuters