India has initiated an anti-dumping investigation against imports of methylene chloride from South Korea. The chemical is used as a solvent in the pharmaceutical industry. The designated anti-dumping authority has initiated the investigation on the basis of a petition filed by the Vadodara based Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd on behalf of the domestic industry.

The Directorate General, Anti-dumping and allied duties (DGAD) under the Ministry of Commerce will carry out the investigation for the period April -December 2002, it is stated. In its initiation notification the DGAD said that there was prima facie evidence that the import of the chemical under consideration had caused material injury to the domestic industry. "There is sufficient evidence that the normal value of the chemical under consideration in Korea is significantly higher that the prices at which it has been exported to India, indicating prima facie that the product has been dumped by exporters from Korea," the DGAD observed in its notification.