The US Commerce Department has just announced its preliminary results in the 14th administrative review of the antidumping duty order on gray portland cement and clinker from Mexico. The review covers entries of the subject merchandise during the period August 1, 2003, through July 31, 2004. The Department preliminarily found the weighted-average margin for Cemex and its affiliate, GCC Cemento SA (GCCC) in this review to be 40.54 per cent (per-unit rate of US$25.73 per metric tonne).
However, The United States could lower anti-dumping duties on Mexican cement maker Cemex by more than 25 per cent, the Bush administration said on Wednesday. The United States has had anti-dumping duties on Cemex since 1990. If the final determination later this year is the same, the anti-dumping duty charged on Cemex cement could fall from 54.97 percent currently, a Commerce aide said. Other Mexican cement makers, who face a current duty of 61.85 per cent, were not part of the current review, the Commerce aide said.
The decision helped boost Cemex shares on the Mexican stock exchange nearly 7.33 percent to 51.28 pesos. The company’s New York-traded stock rose 7.7
percent to $47.67.
