Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) producers in India could see their margins falling by 20 per cent since anti-dumping duty has been abolished on the chemical. PTA is a raw material used in the production of polyester staple fiber and filaments. The removal of the anti-dumping duty is expected to help India enhance its global competitiveness, boost exports and also enable domestic producers to compete with cheaper imports. The anti-dumping duty, imposed in July 2016 and July 2019, has now been revoked on PTA imported from China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand. China is a very big player with huge upstream and downstream PTA capacities, which has added to the pressure on PTA margins.

Owing to its properties such as weathering resistance, strength and flexibility, PTA’s use is growing across various end-use industries such as food and beverages, electronics, apparel, home textiles, carpets, and industrial fiber.

With the anti-dumping duty abolished, the effective spread earned by a company will be lower. Domestic capacity for PTA would be closer to about six million tons. And with Reliance Industries enhancing capacity in a big way, it could be impacted significantly. Reliance Industries is the biggest PTA producer in the country, with a domestic capacity of 4.4 million tons per annum.