Feds: Paslode not guilty of dumping Chinese fasteners
Industrial Distribution staff -- Industrial Distribution, 8/14/2008 7:05:00 AM
The U.S. Dept. of Commerce exonerated Paslode of dumping Chinese-made steel fasteners on the United States market, finding (PDF) that the pneumatic and cordless fastening products manufacturer did not inflate its prices at all.The federal Commerce Dept. imposed duties on steel nail imports from China and the United Arab Emirates in January after finding (PDF) that some manufacturers and exporters in those countries sold nails in the United States at prices below fair market value.
But in its most recent finding, which indicated that some Chinese imports were priced as much as 118 percent higher than market value, the agency said Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Paslode did not inflate (PDF) its prices for Chinese steel nail imports at all. That means the Illinois Tool Works subsidiary will no longer be required to pay the increased duties for importing bright framing nails, galvanized bulk nails, paper collated nails, plastic collated nails and coil nails (excluding roofing nails) from its Shanghai affiliate.
“From the very beginning of this investigation, we have maintained that our business practices were and are ethical and fair,” Paslode general manager Mark Boutelle said in a statement. “Paslode proudly produces nails in the U.S. and throughout the world. We offer innovative products and services, fair pricing, and quality that our end-users and channel customers can continue to rely on to meet their needs.”
Troy Lamb, operations manager of Airline Fasteners and Supplies in Indianapolis, a Paslode distributorship, told INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION the decision might bring down prices for Paslode nails, but probably not until after the conclusion of the Beijing Olympics.
“The main thing affecting prices right now is the steel [prices] increase. We said all along that Paslode wasn’t dumping, but the biggest thing we see is just steel [price] increase. That’s from our other vendors also,” Lamb said. “There’s increased demand [for steel] from China [but] a lot of it is shortages of products coming out of China. With the Olympics they’ve shut down a number of plants for pollution control. There are some nails right now I just cannot get because they’re not being produced. After the Olympics maybe there’s going to be a little leveling off, in terms of the increases. After that time the tariff [cessation] may make an impact.”
Tom Stundza, executive editor of Purchasing magazine, said rising steel prices, including for the wire rod that nails are made of, are likely to continue next year.
“Elevated pricing is going to continue for a while, not necessarily because of demand but because the mills have been [passing along] the higher costs of energy, raw materials and processing. And they’ve been getting it, because there’s a tightness in the supply of steel,” Stundza said. “The developing nations are all buying [steel] like crazy, led of course by the Chinese.”
Stundza told ID that the price for steel wire rod rose more than 243 percent since January of 2000, when it fetched $300 per ton. In July, the average price for steel wire rod was $1,030, he said.
And Purchasing’s prices index, which tracks price movement in a number of commodities, shows a steel index of 88.7. A reading above 50 indicates rising prices; a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
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