Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 26922-26927 [2010-11463]
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26922
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 92 / Thursday, May 13, 2010 / Notices
Dated: May 7, 2010.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010–11334 Filed 5–12–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XW41
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council; Public Meeting
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.
SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council’s (MAFMC)
Protected Resources Committee will
hold a public meeting via webinar.
DATES: This webinar will be held on
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 from 1 p.m. to
4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The webinar will be held at
the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201,
Dover, DE 19901; telephone: (302) 674–
2331.
Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, 800 N. State
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901;
telephone: (302) 674–2331.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Daniel T. Furlong, Executive Director,
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201,
Dover, DE 19901; telephone: (302) 526–
5255.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Details
concerning participation on the webinar
will be posted on the Council’s website
at www.mafmc.org. Interested members
of the public may participate remotely
via computer and/or phone access or
may attend the meeting in person at the
Mid-Atlantic Council offices located at
800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover,
DE 19901.
The Committee will meet with its
Advisory Panel to review the NMFS
Proposed Rule to change the listing
status of loggerhead sea turtles from
threatened to endangered under the
Endangered Species Act and develop
comments for consideration by the full
Council at its June meeting. In addition,
the Committee will discuss NOAA’s
proposed options for implementing
parts of the Marine Mammal Protection
Act that address the incidental catch of
marine mammals in foreign fisheries,
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including species such as whales and
dolphins and develop comments for
Council consideration.
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those
issues may not be the subject of formal
action during this meeting. Action will
be restricted to those issues specifically
listed in this notice and any issues
arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
AVISMA during the POR. SMW
reported that it had no shipments to the
United States during the POR. The
preliminary results are listed below in
the section titled ‘‘Preliminary Results of
Review.’’
DATES: Effective Date: May 13, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Hermes Pinilla or Minoo Hatten, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 5, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–3477 or (202) 482–
1690, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Special Accommodations
Background
The Department published the
antidumping duty order on magnesium
metal from the Russian Federation on
April 15, 2005. See Notice of
Antidumping Duty Order: Magnesium
Metal From the Russian Federation, 70
FR 19930 (April 15, 2005) (Antidumping
Duty Order). On April 1, 2009, the
Department published in the Federal
Register a notice of opportunity to
request an administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium
metal from the Russian Federation. See
Antidumping or Countervailing Duty
Order, Finding, or Suspended
Investigation; Opportunity to Request
Administrative Review, 74 FR 14771
(April 1, 2009). On April 30, 2009,
AVISMA, a Russian Federation
producer of the subject merchandise,
requested that the Department conduct
an administrative review. On April 30,
2009, U.S. Magnesium Corporation LLC,
the petitioner in this proceeding,
requested that the Department conduct
an administrative review with respect to
AVISMA and SMW, another Russian
Federation producer of the subject
merchandise. On May 29, 2009, the
Department published a notice of
initiation of an administrative review of
the antidumping duty order on
magnesium metal from the Russian
Federation for the period April 1, 2008,
through March 31, 2009. See Initiation
of Antidumping and Countervailing
Duty Administrative Reviews, 74 FR
25711 (May 29, 2009).
On December 16, 2009, the
Department extended the deadline for
the preliminary results of this
antidumping duty administrative review
from December 31, 2009, to April 30,
2010. See Magnesium Metal from the
Russian Federation: Notice of Extension
of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 74 FR 66619 (December 16,
2009).
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to M.
Jan Saunders at the Mid-Atlantic
Council Office, (302) 526–5251, at least
5 days prior to the meeting date.
Dated: May 7, 2010.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010–11332 Filed 5–12–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–821–819]
Magnesium Metal From the Russian
Federation: Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to timely
requests, the Department of Commerce
(the Department) is conducting an
administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium
metal from the Russian Federation for
the period of review (POR) April 1,
2008, through March 31, 2009. The
review covers two respondents, PSC
VSMPO–AVISMA Corporation
(AVISMA) and Solikamsk Magnesium
Works (SMW).
The Department preliminarily
determines that AVISMA did not make
sales to the United States at less than
normal value. If these preliminary
results are adopted in the final results
of this administrative review, we will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) to assess no
antidumping duties on entries by
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 92 / Thursday, May 13, 2010 / Notices
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As explained in the Memorandum
from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Import Administration, the Department
has exercised its discretion to toll
deadlines for the duration of the closure
of the Federal Government from
February 5 through February 12, 2010.
Thus, the deadline in this segment of
the proceeding has been extended by
seven days. The revised deadline for the
preliminary results of the antidumping
administrative review on magnesium
metal from the Russian Federation is
now May 7, 2010. See Memorandum to
the Record from Ronald Lorentzen, DAS
for Import Administration, regarding
‘‘Tolling of Administrative Deadlines As
a Result of the Government Closure
During the Recent Snowstorm,’’ dated
February 12, 2010.
Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the order
is magnesium metal (also referred to as
magnesium), which includes primary
and secondary pure and alloy
magnesium metal, regardless of
chemistry, raw material source, form,
shape, or size. Magnesium is a metal or
alloy containing by weight primarily the
element magnesium. Primary
magnesium is produced by
decomposing raw materials into
magnesium metal. Secondary
magnesium is produced by recycling
magnesium-based scrap into magnesium
metal. The magnesium covered by the
order includes blends of primary and
secondary magnesium.
The subject merchandise includes the
following pure and alloy magnesium
metal products made from primary and/
or secondary magnesium, including,
without limitation, magnesium cast into
ingots, slabs, rounds, billets, and other
shapes, and magnesium ground,
chipped, crushed, or machined into
raspings, granules, turnings, chips,
powder, briquettes, and other shapes:
(1) Products that contain at least 99.95
percent magnesium, by weight
(generally referred to as ‘‘ultra-pure’’
magnesium); (2) products that contain
less than 99.95 percent but not less than
99.8 percent magnesium, by weight
(generally referred to as ‘‘pure’’
magnesium); and (3) chemical
combinations of magnesium and other
material(s) in which the magnesium
content is 50 percent or greater, but less
that 99.8 percent, by weight, whether or
not conforming to an ‘‘ASTM
Specification for Magnesium Alloy.’’
The scope of the order excludes: (1)
Magnesium that is in liquid or molten
form; and (2) mixtures containing 90
percent or less magnesium in granular
or powder form by weight and one or
more of certain non-magnesium
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granular materials to make magnesiumbased reagent mixtures, including lime,
calcium metal, calcium silicon, calcium
carbide, calcium carbonate, carbon, slag
coagulants, fluorspar, nephaline syenite,
feldspar, alumina (Al203), calcium
aluminate, soda ash, hydrocarbons,
graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth
metals/mischmetal, cryolite, silica/fly
ash, magnesium oxide, periclase,
ferroalloys, dolomite lime, and
colemanite.1
The merchandise subject to the order
is currently classifiable under items
8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 8104.30.00, and
8104.90.00 of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Although the HTSUS item numbers are
provided for convenience and customs
purposes, the written description of the
merchandise covered by the order is
dispositive. See Id.
SMW
On June 1, 2009, SMW submitted a
letter indicating that it made no sales to
the United States during the POR. We
have not received any comments on
SMW’s submission. We confirmed
SMW’s claim of no shipments by
issuing a ‘‘No Shipments Inquiry’’ to
CBP and by reviewing electronic CBP
data. See Memorandum to the File,
entitled ‘‘Magnesium Metal from the
Russian Federation—Placement of
Customs Data on the Record,’’ dated
May 7, 2010.
With regard to SMW’s claim of no
shipments, our practice since
implementation of the 1997 regulations
concerning no-shipment respondents
has been to rescind the administrative
review if the respondent certifies that it
had no shipments and we have
confirmed through our examination of
CBP data that there were no shipments
of subject merchandise during the POR.
See Antidumping Duties; Countervailing
Duties, 62 FR 27296, 27393 (May 19,
1997), and Oil Country Tubular Goods
from Japan: Preliminary Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review and Partial Rescission of
1 This second exclusion for magnesium-based
reagent mixtures is based on the exclusion for
reagent mixtures in the 2001 investigations of
magnesium from the People’s Republic of China,
Israel, and the Russian Federation. See Notice of
Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair
Value: Pure Magnesium in Granular Form From the
People’s Republic of China, 66 FR 49345
(September 27, 2001), and Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value:
Pure Magnesium From Israel, 66 FR 49349
(September 27, 2001); Notice of Final Determination
of Sales at Not Less Than Fair Value: Pure
Magnesium From the Russian Federation, 66 FR
49347 (September 27, 2001). These mixtures are not
magnesium alloys, because they are not chemically
combined in liquid form and cast into the same
ingot.
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Review, 70 FR 53161, 53162 (September
7, 2005), unchanged in Oil Country
Tubular Goods from Japan: Final
Results and Partial Rescission of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 71 FR 95 (January 3, 2006). As
a result, in such circumstances, we
normally instruct CBP to liquidate any
entries from the no-shipment company
at the deposit rate in effect on the date
of entry.
In our May 6, 2003, ‘‘automatic
assessment’’ clarification, we explained
that, where respondents in an
administrative review demonstrate that
they had no knowledge of sales through
resellers to the United States, we would
instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at
the all-others rate applicable to the
proceeding. See Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings:
Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68
FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
Based on SMW’s assertion of no
shipments and confirmation of that
claim by CBP data, we preliminarily
determine that SMW had no sales to the
United States during the POR.
Because ‘‘as entered’’ liquidation
instructions do not alleviate the
concerns which the May 2003
clarification was intended to address,
we find it appropriate in this case to
instruct CBP to liquidate any existing
entries of merchandise produced by
SMW and exported by other parties at
the all-others rate should we continue to
find at the time of our final results that
SMW had no shipments of subject
merchandise from the Russian
Federation. See, e.g., Certain Frozen
Warmwater Shrimp from India: Partial
Rescission of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 73 FR 77610,
77612 (December 19, 2008). In addition,
the Department finds that it is more
consistent with the May 2003
clarification not to rescind the review in
part in these circumstances but, rather,
to complete the review with respect to
SMW and issue appropriate instructions
to CBP based on the final results of the
review. See the Assessment Rates
section of this notice below.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act),
we verified the information submitted
by AVISMA with regard to its sales in
the United States.
We used standard verification
procedures including examination of
relevant accounting and production
records and original source documents
provided by AVISMA. See U.S. Sales
Verification Report, entitled
‘‘Verification of the Sales Response of
PSC VSMPO–AVISMA Corporation in
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the Antidumping Review of Magnesium
Metal from the Russian Federation,’’
(U.S. Sales Verification Report), dated
May 7, 2010. We are scheduled to
conduct the home-market sales and
cost-of-production verifications in midMay 2010. Any post-preliminary results
verification findings will be reflected in
the final results.
Date of Sale
The petitioner has alleged that
AVISMA made sales to certain U.S.
customers where the issuance of
invoices for such sales occurred in the
2007/08 POR but the subject
merchandise was shipped during the
2008/09 POR. The petitioner alleges that
these sales should be reported in the
2008/09 POR because the material terms
of these ‘‘bill-and-hold sales’’ were not
established until AVISMA shipped its
merchandise to its U.S. customers (and
received payment), not when it issued
the invoice. AVISMA has contended
that the date of sale is the invoice date
because the terms of sales were final
and, as a result, it was appropriate to
report the bill-and-hold sales in the
completed 2007/08 administrative
review. The petitioner disputes
AVISMA’s claim and has requested that
the Department require AVISMA to
report the disputed sales in this review.
The petitioner contends that, if
AVISMA does not report these sales, the
Department should apply facts available
with an adverse inference to AVISMA
for not acting to the best of its ability.
Section 351.401(i) of the Department’s
regulations states that, in identifying the
date of sale of the subject merchandise
or foreign like product, the Secretary
normally will use the date of invoice, as
recorded in the exporter’s or producer’s
records kept in the ordinary course of
business. The Preamble to those
regulations clarifies that, ‘‘* * * absent
satisfactory evidence that the terms of
sale were finally established on a
different date, the Department will
presume that the date of sale is the date
of invoice.’’ See Antidumping Duties;
Countervailing Duties, 62 FR at 27349.
As mentioned above, we have
conducted the verification of AVISMA’s
U.S. sales response. We examined
AVISMA’s bill-and-hold arrangements
with several of its U.S. customers for
various products it sells in the United
States. We found that AVISMA issues
the invoice with set terms of the sale
but, at the request of its bill-and-hold
customers, it ships the items at a later
date. We determined that the material
terms of sale for these bill-and-hold
transactions did not change between the
date of invoice and date of shipment.
Through our examination of AVISMA’s
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accounting records, we found that,
although the merchandise may be in
AVISMA’s warehouse for some time
until it ships the merchandise to its U.S.
customers, AVISMA treats the inventory
in its normal books and records as if it
left the warehouse for shipment on the
date it issues the invoice. Thus,
according to AVISMA’s books and
records, the company treats the sales
made through the bill-and-hold
methodology as final sales although
AVISMA may not have shipped the
merchandise to its U.S. customer until
sometime later or may not have received
payment for the sale until after it
shipped the merchandise. For further
information, See U.S. Sales Verification
Report and Decision Memorandum
entitled ‘‘Magnesium Metal from the
Russian Federation—Bill-and-Hold
Sales Invoiced During the 2007/2008
Administrative Review,’’ dated May 7,
2010.
Finally, through our examination of
customs documents related to the billand-hold sales, we found that all of the
disputed sales entered for consumption
during the 2007/08 POR and, therefore,
will be liquidated in accordance with
the final court ruling concerning the
final results of that review. See U.S.
Sales Verification Report.
Constructed Export Price
AVISMA identified all of its sales to
the United States as constructed exportprice (CEP) sales because the U.S. sales
were made for the account of AVISMA
by AVISMA’s U.S. affiliate, VSMPO–
Tirus, U.S., Inc. (Tirus US), to
unaffiliated purchasers in the United
States. AVISMA and Tirus US are
affiliated because Tirus US is a wholly
owned subsidiary of AVISMA. See
section 771(33)(E) of the Act. U.S. sales
to the first unaffiliated party were made
in the United States by the U.S. affiliate,
thus satisfying the legal requirements
for considering these transactions to be
CEP sales. See section 772(b) of the Act.
We calculated CEP based on the
packed, C.I.F. price to unaffiliated
purchasers in the United States. In
accordance with section 772(c)(2) of the
Act, for AVISMA’s CEP sales we made
deductions from price for movement
expenses and discounts, where
appropriate. More specifically, we
deducted early-payment discounts,
expenses for Russian railway freight
from plant to port, freight insurance,
Russian brokerage, handling and port
charges, international freight and
marine insurance, U.S. customs duties,
U.S. brokerage, handling, and port
charges, U.S. warehousing, and U.S.
inland freight.
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In accordance with section 772(d)(1)
of the Act, we deducted direct selling
expenses and indirect selling expenses
related to commercial activity in the
United States. See also Statement of
Administrative Action accompanying
the Uruguay Round Agreements Act,
H.R. Doc. No. 103–316, vol. 1 (1994) at
823–824. Pursuant to sections 772(d)(3)
and 772(f) of the Act, we made an
adjustment for CEP profit allocated to
expenses deducted under section
772(d)(1) of the Act. In accordance with
section 772(f) of the Act, we computed
profit based on the total revenues
realized on sales in both the U.S. and
home markets, less all expenses
associated with those sales. We then
allocated profit to expenses incurred
with respect to U.S. economic activity
based on the ratio of total U.S. expenses
to total expenses for both the U.S. and
home markets. See AVISMA
Preliminary Results Analysis
Memorandum dated May 7, 2010.
Normal Value
Based on a comparison of the
aggregate quantity of home-market and
U.S. sales and absent any information
that a particular market situation in the
exporting country did not permit a
proper comparison, we determined that
the quantity of foreign like product sold
by AVISMA in the exporting country
was sufficient to permit a proper
comparison with the sales of the subject
merchandise to the United States under
section 773(a) of the Act. AVISMA’s
quantity of sales in its home market was
greater than five percent of its sales to
the U.S. market. Therefore, in
accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B)(i)
of the Act, we considered basing normal
value on the prices at which the foreign
like product was first sold for
consumption in the exporting country
in the usual commercial quantities and
in the ordinary course of trade and, to
the extent practicable, at the same level
of trade as the CEP sales.
In accordance with section 771(16)(A)
of the Act, we considered all products
produced by AVISMA that are covered
by the description in the Scope of the
Order section, above, and that were sold
in the home market during the POR to
be foreign like products for purposes of
determining appropriate product
comparisons to U.S. sales. In accordance
with sections 771(16)(B) and (C) of the
Act, where there were no sales of
identical merchandise in the home
market to compare to U.S. sales, we
considered comparing U.S. sales to the
most similar foreign like product on the
basis of the product characteristics we
determined to be the most appropriate
for purposes of matching products.
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Cost-of-Production Analysis
We disregarded below-cost sales in
accordance with section 773(b) of the
Act in the last completed review with
respect to AVISMA in which it
participated. See Magnesium Metal from
the Russian Federation: Final Results of
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 73 FR 52642, 52643 (September
10, 2008) (06/07 Final). Therefore, we
have reasonable grounds to believe or
suspect that sales of the foreign like
product under consideration for the
determination of normal value in this
review may have been made at prices
below the cost of production (COP) as
provided by section 773(b)(2)(A)(ii) of
the Act. Therefore, pursuant to section
773(b)(1) of the Act, we conducted a
COP investigation of sales by AVISMA
in the home market.
In accordance with section 773(b)(3)
of the Act, we calculated a weightedaverage COP based on the sum of the
cost of materials and fabrication for the
foreign like product, plus amounts for
home-market selling, general and
administrative expenses, interest
expense, and packing expenses.
In its normal books and records,
AVISMA treats raw magnesium as a byproduct of its titanium operations. Raw
magnesium and chlorine gas are
produced jointly during the third major
processing step, the electrolysis stage
(i.e., the split-off point), during which
both products become identifiable
physically. The calculation of the byproduct value for raw magnesium starts
with the total sales value of finished
goods produced. This amount is then
reduced by the budgeted profit, selling
expenses, and post-split-off costs. The
remaining amount is deemed to
represent the total net realizable value
(NRV) of raw magnesium. This value is
used to value the raw magnesium offset
in calculating a total NRV for chlorine
gas.
For reporting purposes in this
administrative review, AVISMA
departed from its normal books and
records and estimated the value of
chlorine gas based on a facility it
intends to operate in the future. It also
treated chlorine gas as a by-product of
raw magnesium production. AVISMA
valued chlorine gas at the estimated cost
of liquid chlorine plus estimated
transportation and gasification costs it
estimated for the new facility. It then
deducted the total estimated value of
chlorine gas from the total joint costs
and assigned the remaining joint costs
to raw magnesium. See AVISMA’s
August 4, 2009, section D response at
34–36 and exhibits 4B and 4C.
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We agree with AVISMA that for
purposes of this review it is proper to
depart from its normal books and
records. We preliminarily find,
however, that it is reasonable to treat
chlorine gas and market-quality raw
magnesium produced jointly at the
split-off point as co-products because
the total NRV of chlorine gas relative to
the total NRV of market-quality raw
magnesium is significant. This is
consistent with our findings in the
2006/2007 review of the order where we
treated chlorine gas and market-quality
raw magnesium as co-products. See 06/
07 Final, and accompanying Issues and
Decision Memorandum at Comments 1–
3.
For the purpose of allocating the splitoff-point joint costs to these two coproducts, we estimated the NRV of
chlorine gas. We estimated the NRV of
chlorine gas following the same
replacement-value method we used in
the 2006/2007 review. To calculate the
NRV of market-quality raw magnesium,
we started with AVISMA’s 2002 average
values reported for pure magnesium and
magnesium metal products. From these
average values we deducted the
separable costs incurred by AVISMA
beyond the split-off point. We also
accounted for the actual quantity of
market-quality raw magnesium used to
produce one metric ton of pure
magnesium, or magnesium metal, by
application of the product-specific yield
ratio.
We recalculated the joint costs
incurred at the split-off point during the
POR by adding back the market-quality
raw magnesium by-product offset and
removing the cost of chlorine gas (i.e.,
the chlorine gas produced at split-off
point and recycled back to the previous
processing stage) from the inputs used
in the production of market-quality raw
magnesium and chlorine gas. Likewise,
we adjusted the split-off-point chlorinegas production quantity for the
quantities recycled back to the previous
processing stage.
We allocated the split-off-point joint
costs to chlorine gas and market-quality
raw magnesium in proportion to their
respective NRVs. We used the net
interest expense ratio that AVISMA
calculated based on the amounts
reported in AVISMA’s 2008 fiscal-year
audited consolidated financial
statements prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting
Standards.
For more details, See Memorandum to
Neal M. Halper, Director, Office of
Accounting, through Michael P. Martin,
Lead Accountant, from Sheikh M.
Hannan, Senior Accountant, entitled
‘‘Cost of Production and Constructed
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26925
Value Calculation Adjustments for the
Preliminary Results—PSC VSMPO–
AVISMA Corporation and VSMPO—
Tirus US Inc.,’’ dated May 7, 2010.
After calculating the COP and in
accordance with section 773(b)(1) of the
Act, we tested whether home-market
sales of the foreign like product were
made at prices below the COP within an
extended period of time in substantial
quantities and whether such prices
permitted the recovery of all costs
within a reasonable period of time. We
compared model-specific COPs to the
reported home-market prices less any
applicable movement charges,
discounts, and rebates. Pursuant to
section 773(b)(2)(C) of the Act, when
less than 20 percent of a respondent’s
sales of a given product were at prices
less than the COP, we do not disregard
any below-cost sales of that product
because the below-cost sales were not
made in substantial quantities within an
extended period of time. When 20
percent or more of a respondent’s sales
of a given product were at prices less
than the COP, we disregard the belowcost sales because they were made in
substantial quantities within an
extended period of time pursuant to
sections 773(b)(2)(B) and (C) of the Act
and because, based on comparisons of
prices to weighted-average COPs for the
POR, such sales were at prices which
would not permit recovery of all costs
within a reasonable period of time in
accordance with section 773(b)(2)(D) of
the Act. Based on this test, we did not
disregard any of AVISMA’s homemarket sales of magnesium metal
because all such sales passed the cost
test. See AVISMA Preliminary Results
Analysis Memorandum dated May 7,
2010.
Level of Trade
In the U.S. market, AVISMA made
CEP sales. In the case of CEP sales, we
identified the level of trade based on the
price after the deduction of expenses
and profit under section 772(d) of the
Act. Although the starting price for CEP
sales was based on sales made by the
affiliated reseller to unaffiliated
customers through two channels of
distribution, sales to end-users and
distributors, AVISMA reported similar
selling activities associated with all
sales to the affiliated reseller (i.e., at the
CEP level of trade).
AVISMA reported one channel of
distribution in the home market, sales to
end-users. We found that this channel of
distribution constitutes a single level of
trade in the home market. To determine
whether home-market sales were made
at a different level of trade than U.S.
sales, we examined stages in the
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 92 / Thursday, May 13, 2010 / Notices
marketing process and selling functions
along the chain of distribution between
the producer and the unaffiliated
customer. We found that there were
significant differences between the
selling activities associated with the
CEP level of trade and those associated
with the home-market level of trade
and, thus, we found the CEP level of
trade to be different from the homemarket level of trade. Further, we found
the CEP level of trade to be at a less
advanced stage of distribution than the
home-market level of trade.
Because AVISMA reported no homemarket levels of trade that were
equivalent to the CEP level of trade and
because we determined that the CEP
level of trade was at a less advanced
stage than the single home-market level
of trade, we were unable to determine
a level-of-trade adjustment based on the
respondent’s home-market sales of the
foreign like product. Furthermore, we
have no other information that provides
an appropriate basis for determining a
level-of-trade adjustment. For
AVISMA’s CEP sales, we made a CEPoffset adjustment in accordance with
section 773(a)(7)(B) of the Act. For a
description of our level-of-trade analysis
for these preliminary results, See
AVISMA Preliminary Results Analysis
Memorandum dated May 7, 2010.
Currency Conversion
For purposes of the preliminary
results and in accordance with section
773A of the Act, we made currency
conversions based on the official
exchange rates in effect on the dates of
the U.S. sales as certified by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York. See 19 CFR
351.415.
Preliminary Results of Review
As a result of our review, we
preliminarily determine that the
following weighted-average dumping
margins on magnesium metal from the
Russian Federation exist for the period
April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009:
Margin
(percent)
PSC VSMPO–AVISMA Corporation ............................................
Solikamsk Magnesium Works ......
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Manufacturer/exporter
0.00
*
* No shipments or sales subject to this review. The firm has an individual rate from the
last segment of the proceeding in which the
firm had shipments or sales.
Disclosure and Public Comment
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.224(b), the
Department will disclose to any party to
the proceeding the calculations
performed in connection with these
preliminary results within five days
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:56 May 12, 2010
Jkt 220001
after the date of publication of this
notice. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c),
case briefs or other written comments
may be submitted to the Assistant
Secretary for Import Administration no
later than seven days after the date of
the last verification report issued in this
review and rebuttal briefs, limited to
issues raised in case briefs, no later than
five days after the deadline date for case
briefs. A list of authorities used and an
executive summary of issues should
accompany any briefs submitted to the
Department. This summary should be
limited to five pages total, including
footnotes.
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.310,
we will hold a public hearing, if
requested, to afford interested parties an
opportunity to comment on arguments
raised in case or rebuttal briefs. If
requested, a hearing will be held two
days after the deadline for submission of
the rebuttal briefs at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, 14th Street
and Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230, at a time and
location to be determined. Parties
should confirm by telephone the date,
time, and location of the hearing two
days before the scheduled date.
Interested parties who wish to request a
hearing, or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written
request to the Assistant Secretary for
Import Administration, U.S. Department
of Commerce, Room 1870, within 30
days of the date of publication of this
notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Requests
should contain (1) the party’s name,
address, and telephone number, (2) the
number of participants, and (3) a list of
the issues to be discussed. At the
hearing, each party may make an
affirmative presentation only on issues
raised in that party’s case brief and may
make rebuttal presentations only on
arguments included in that party’s
rebuttal brief. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
Assessment Rates
The Department shall determine, and
CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on
all appropriate entries. In accordance
with 19 CFR 351.212(b)(1), we have
calculated an importer-specific
assessment rate for AVISMA reflecting
these preliminary results of review.
The Department clarified its
‘‘automatic assessment’’ regulation on
May 6, 2003. See Assessment of
Antidumping Duties. This clarification
will apply to entries of subject
merchandise during the POR produced
by AVISMA or SMW for which
AVISMA or SMW did not know their
merchandise was destined for the
United States. In such instances, we will
instruct CBP to liquidate unreviewed
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
entries of merchandise produced by
AVISMA or SMW at the all-others rate
if there is no rate for the intermediate
company(ies) involved in the
transaction. For a full discussion of this
clarification, See Assessment of
Antidumping Duties.
The Department will issue
instructions to CBP 15 days after the
publication of the final results of
review.
Cash-Deposit Requirements
The following deposit requirements
will be effective upon completion of the
final results of this administrative
review for all shipments of the subject
merchandise entered, or withdrawn
from warehouse, for consumption on or
after the publication of the final results
of this administrative review, as
provided in section 751(a)(1) of the Act:
(1) The cash-deposit rate for the
reviewed firms will be those established
in the final results of this review; (2) for
previously reviewed or investigated
companies not covered in this review,
the cash-deposit rate will continue to be
the company-specific rate published for
the most recent period; (3) if the
exporter is not a firm covered in this
review, a prior review, or the less-thanfair-value (LTFV) investigation but the
manufacturer is, the cash-deposit rate
will be the rate established for the most
recent period for the manufacturer of
the subject merchandise; (4) if neither
the exporter nor the manufacturer is a
firm covered in this or any previous
segment of the proceeding, the cashdeposit rate will continue to be the allothers rate established in the LTFV
investigation, which is 21.01 percent.
See Antidumping Duty Order. These
cash-deposit requirements, when
imposed, shall remain in effect until
further notice.
Notification to Importers
This notice serves as a preliminary
reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR
351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of
antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this
review period. Failure to comply with
this requirement could result in the
Secretary’s presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties
occurred and the subsequent assessment
of double antidumping duties.
The preliminary results of this
administrative review and this notice
are issued and published in accordance
with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of
the Act.
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 92 / Thursday, May 13, 2010 / Notices
Dated: May 7, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010–11463 Filed 5–12–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A–570–904]
Certain Activated Carbon From the
People’s Republic of China: Notice of
Preliminary Results of the Second
Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, and Preliminary Rescission in
Part
sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: Import Administration,
International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce
(‘‘Department’’) is conducting the second
administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on certain
activated carbon from the People’s
Republic of China (‘‘PRC’’) for the period
April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009.
The Department has preliminarily
determined that sales have been made
below normal value (‘‘NV’’) by the
respondents examined in this
administrative review. If these
preliminary results are adopted in our
final results of this review, the
Department will instruct U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (‘‘CBP’’) to assess
antidumping duties on all appropriate
entries of subject merchandise during
the period of review.
DATES: Effective Date: May 13, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob
Palmer or Kathleen Marksberry, AD/
CVD Operations, Office 9, Import
Administration, International Trade
Administration, Department of
Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230;
telephone: (202) 482–9068 or (202) 482–
7906, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Department received timely
requests by Petitioners 1 and certain PRC
and other companies, in accordance
with 19 CFR 351.213(b), during the
anniversary month of April, to conduct
a review of certain activated carbon
producers and/or exporters from the
PRC. On May 29, 2009, the Department
initiated this review with respect to all
requested companies. See Initiation of
Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
1 Norit Americas Inc. and Calgon Carbon
Corporation.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:56 May 12, 2010
Jkt 220001
Administrative Reviews and Requests
for Revocation in Part, 74 FR 25711
(May 29, 2009) (‘‘Initiation Notice’’).
On June 18, 2009, Petitioners
withdrew the request for review with
respect to 155 of the 187 originally
requested companies. On July 2, 2009,
the Department published a notice of
rescission in the Federal Register for
those 155 companies for which the
request for review was withdrawn. See
Certain Activated Carbon From the
People’s Republic of China: Notice of
Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 74 FR 31690
(July 2, 2009) (‘‘First Rescission’’). On
August 21, 2009, Petitioners withdrew
the request for review with respect to an
additional thirteen companies. On
September 16, 2009, the Department
published a second notice of rescission
in the Federal Register for those
thirteen companies. See Certain
Activated Carbon from the People’s
Republic of China: Notice of Partial
Rescission of Antidumping Duty
Administrative Review, 74 FR 47558
(September 16, 2009) (‘‘Second
Rescission’’). Following the two partial
rescissions, nineteen companies
remained subject to this review.2 On
September 11, 2009, Ningxia Lingzhou
Foreign Trade Co., Ltd. (‘‘Lingzhou’’)
submitted a letter certifying it had no
shipments during the period of review
(‘‘POR’’).3
On March 4, 2010, nine months after
the publication of the Initiation Notice,
United Manufacturing International
(Beijing) Ltd. (‘‘UMI’’) requested
permission to file a late separate rate
certification, because UMI asserted that
it was not properly served notice of this
review at the time that the request was
made by Petitioners. The Department
fully considered UMI’s request in light
of UMI not being properly served with
Petitioners’ request. However, it is the
Department’s practice that the Initiation
Notice constitutes public notice to all
potential separate rate applicants of the
2 These companies are: Datong Municipal
Yunguang Activated Carbon Co., Ltd.; Datong
Yunguang Chemicals Plant; Datong Juqiang
Activated Carbon Co., Ltd.; Cherishment Inc.; Hebei
Foreign Trade Advertisement Company; Ningxia
Huahui Activated Carbon Co., Ltd.; Ningxia
Lingzhou Foreign Trade Co., Ltd.; Ningxia Mineral
& Chemical Limited.; Tangshan Solid Carbon Co.,
Ltd.; Jilin Bright Future Chemicals Company, Ltd.;
Jacobi Carbons AB; Tianjin Jacobi International
Trading Co., Ltd.; Ningxia Guanghua Cherishment
Activated Carbon Co., Ltd.; Beijing Pacific
Activated Carbon Products Co., Ltd.; Shanxi Qixian
Foreign Trade Corporation; Shanxi Newtime Co.,
Ltd.; Shanxi DMD Corporation; Shanxi Industry
Technology Trading Co., Ltd.; and United
Manufacturing International (Beijing) Ltd.
3 Companies have the opportunity to submit
statements certifying that they did not ship the
subject merchandise to the United States during the
POR.
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
26927
initiation of an investigation or review
and the deadline for providing separate
rate information. Based upon this
practice, the Department concludes that
because UMI did not file a separate rate
certification in a timely manner or
request an extension within the time
period for filing a separate rate
certification, we are not now granting
additional time for UMI to file a
separate rate certification in this
review.4
On November 24, 2009, the
Department published a notice
extending the time period for issuing
the preliminary results by 120 days to
April 30, 2009. See Certain Activated
Carbon from the People’s Republic of
China: Extension of Time Limits for
Preliminary Results of the Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR
61330 (November 24, 2009).
Additionally, as explained in the
memorandum from the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Import
Administration, the Department has
exercised its discretion to toll deadlines
for the duration of the closure of the
Federal Government from February 5,
through February 12, 2010. See
Memorandum to the Record from
Ronald Lorentzen, DAS for Import
Administration, regarding ‘‘Tolling of
Administrative Deadlines As a Result of
the Government Closure During the
Recent Snowstorm,’’ dated February 12,
2010. Pursuant to that memorandum, all
deadlines in this segment of the
proceeding have been extended by
seven days. The revised deadline for the
preliminary results of this review is now
May 7, 2010.
Respondent Selection
Section 777A(c)(1) of the Act directs
the Department to calculate individual
dumping margins for each known
exporter or producer of the subject
merchandise.5 However, section
777A(c)(2) of the Act gives the
Department discretion to limit its
examination to a reasonable number of
exporters or producers if it is not
practicable to examine all exporters or
producers involved in the review.
On May 29, 2009, the Department
released CBP data for entries of the
subject merchandise during the period
of review (‘‘POR’’) under administrative
protective order (‘‘APO’’) to all
interested parties having access to
materials released under APO inviting
comments regarding the CBP data and
respondent selection. On June 4, 2009,
4 See Letter from the Department to United
Manufacturing International (Beijing) Ltd. dated
April 5, 2010.
5 See also 19 CFR 351.204(c) regarding
respondent selection, in general.
E:\FR\FM\13MYN1.SGM
13MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26922-26927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11463]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
International Trade Administration
[A-821-819]
Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation: Preliminary Results
of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration,
Department of Commerce.
SUMMARY: In response to timely requests, the Department of Commerce
(the Department) is conducting an administrative review of the
antidumping duty order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation
for the period of review (POR) April 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009.
The review covers two respondents, PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation
(AVISMA) and Solikamsk Magnesium Works (SMW).
The Department preliminarily determines that AVISMA did not make
sales to the United States at less than normal value. If these
preliminary results are adopted in the final results of this
administrative review, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) to assess no antidumping duties on entries by AVISMA
during the POR. SMW reported that it had no shipments to the United
States during the POR. The preliminary results are listed below in the
section titled ``Preliminary Results of Review.''
DATES: Effective Date: May 13, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hermes Pinilla or Minoo Hatten, AD/CVD
Operations, Office 5, Import Administration, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-
3477 or (202) 482-1690, respectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Department published the antidumping duty order on magnesium
metal from the Russian Federation on April 15, 2005. See Notice of
Antidumping Duty Order: Magnesium Metal From the Russian Federation, 70
FR 19930 (April 15, 2005) (Antidumping Duty Order). On April 1, 2009,
the Department published in the Federal Register a notice of
opportunity to request an administrative review of the antidumping duty
order on magnesium metal from the Russian Federation. See Antidumping
or Countervailing Duty Order, Finding, or Suspended Investigation;
Opportunity to Request Administrative Review, 74 FR 14771 (April 1,
2009). On April 30, 2009, AVISMA, a Russian Federation producer of the
subject merchandise, requested that the Department conduct an
administrative review. On April 30, 2009, U.S. Magnesium Corporation
LLC, the petitioner in this proceeding, requested that the Department
conduct an administrative review with respect to AVISMA and SMW,
another Russian Federation producer of the subject merchandise. On May
29, 2009, the Department published a notice of initiation of an
administrative review of the antidumping duty order on magnesium metal
from the Russian Federation for the period April 1, 2008, through March
31, 2009. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty
Administrative Reviews, 74 FR 25711 (May 29, 2009).
On December 16, 2009, the Department extended the deadline for the
preliminary results of this antidumping duty administrative review from
December 31, 2009, to April 30, 2010. See Magnesium Metal from the
Russian Federation: Notice of Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 74 FR 66619
(December 16, 2009).
[[Page 26923]]
As explained in the Memorandum from the Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Import Administration, the Department has exercised its discretion
to toll deadlines for the duration of the closure of the Federal
Government from February 5 through February 12, 2010. Thus, the
deadline in this segment of the proceeding has been extended by seven
days. The revised deadline for the preliminary results of the
antidumping administrative review on magnesium metal from the Russian
Federation is now May 7, 2010. See Memorandum to the Record from Ronald
Lorentzen, DAS for Import Administration, regarding ``Tolling of
Administrative Deadlines As a Result of the Government Closure During
the Recent Snowstorm,'' dated February 12, 2010.
Scope of the Order
The merchandise covered by the order is magnesium metal (also
referred to as magnesium), which includes primary and secondary pure
and alloy magnesium metal, regardless of chemistry, raw material
source, form, shape, or size. Magnesium is a metal or alloy containing
by weight primarily the element magnesium. Primary magnesium is
produced by decomposing raw materials into magnesium metal. Secondary
magnesium is produced by recycling magnesium-based scrap into magnesium
metal. The magnesium covered by the order includes blends of primary
and secondary magnesium.
The subject merchandise includes the following pure and alloy
magnesium metal products made from primary and/or secondary magnesium,
including, without limitation, magnesium cast into ingots, slabs,
rounds, billets, and other shapes, and magnesium ground, chipped,
crushed, or machined into raspings, granules, turnings, chips, powder,
briquettes, and other shapes: (1) Products that contain at least 99.95
percent magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as ``ultra-pure''
magnesium); (2) products that contain less than 99.95 percent but not
less than 99.8 percent magnesium, by weight (generally referred to as
``pure'' magnesium); and (3) chemical combinations of magnesium and
other material(s) in which the magnesium content is 50 percent or
greater, but less that 99.8 percent, by weight, whether or not
conforming to an ``ASTM Specification for Magnesium Alloy.''
The scope of the order excludes: (1) Magnesium that is in liquid or
molten form; and (2) mixtures containing 90 percent or less magnesium
in granular or powder form by weight and one or more of certain non-
magnesium granular materials to make magnesium-based reagent mixtures,
including lime, calcium metal, calcium silicon, calcium carbide,
calcium carbonate, carbon, slag coagulants, fluorspar, nephaline
syenite, feldspar, alumina (Al203), calcium aluminate, soda ash,
hydrocarbons, graphite, coke, silicon, rare earth metals/mischmetal,
cryolite, silica/fly ash, magnesium oxide, periclase, ferroalloys,
dolomite lime, and colemanite.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This second exclusion for magnesium-based reagent mixtures
is based on the exclusion for reagent mixtures in the 2001
investigations of magnesium from the People's Republic of China,
Israel, and the Russian Federation. See Notice of Final
Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium in
Granular Form From the People's Republic of China, 66 FR 49345
(September 27, 2001), and Notice of Final Determination of Sales at
Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From Israel, 66 FR 49349
(September 27, 2001); Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Not
Less Than Fair Value: Pure Magnesium From the Russian Federation, 66
FR 49347 (September 27, 2001). These mixtures are not magnesium
alloys, because they are not chemically combined in liquid form and
cast into the same ingot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The merchandise subject to the order is currently classifiable
under items 8104.11.00, 8104.19.00, 8104.30.00, and 8104.90.00 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the
HTSUS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs purposes,
the written description of the merchandise covered by the order is
dispositive. See Id.
SMW
On June 1, 2009, SMW submitted a letter indicating that it made no
sales to the United States during the POR. We have not received any
comments on SMW's submission. We confirmed SMW's claim of no shipments
by issuing a ``No Shipments Inquiry'' to CBP and by reviewing
electronic CBP data. See Memorandum to the File, entitled ``Magnesium
Metal from the Russian Federation--Placement of Customs Data on the
Record,'' dated May 7, 2010.
With regard to SMW's claim of no shipments, our practice since
implementation of the 1997 regulations concerning no-shipment
respondents has been to rescind the administrative review if the
respondent certifies that it had no shipments and we have confirmed
through our examination of CBP data that there were no shipments of
subject merchandise during the POR. See Antidumping Duties;
Countervailing Duties, 62 FR 27296, 27393 (May 19, 1997), and Oil
Country Tubular Goods from Japan: Preliminary Results of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review and Partial Rescission of Review, 70 FR
53161, 53162 (September 7, 2005), unchanged in Oil Country Tubular
Goods from Japan: Final Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping
Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 95 (January 3, 2006). As a result, in
such circumstances, we normally instruct CBP to liquidate any entries
from the no-shipment company at the deposit rate in effect on the date
of entry.
In our May 6, 2003, ``automatic assessment'' clarification, we
explained that, where respondents in an administrative review
demonstrate that they had no knowledge of sales through resellers to
the United States, we would instruct CBP to liquidate such entries at
the all-others rate applicable to the proceeding. See Antidumping and
Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68
FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).
Based on SMW's assertion of no shipments and confirmation of that
claim by CBP data, we preliminarily determine that SMW had no sales to
the United States during the POR.
Because ``as entered'' liquidation instructions do not alleviate
the concerns which the May 2003 clarification was intended to address,
we find it appropriate in this case to instruct CBP to liquidate any
existing entries of merchandise produced by SMW and exported by other
parties at the all-others rate should we continue to find at the time
of our final results that SMW had no shipments of subject merchandise
from the Russian Federation. See, e.g., Certain Frozen Warmwater Shrimp
from India: Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative
Review, 73 FR 77610, 77612 (December 19, 2008). In addition, the
Department finds that it is more consistent with the May 2003
clarification not to rescind the review in part in these circumstances
but, rather, to complete the review with respect to SMW and issue
appropriate instructions to CBP based on the final results of the
review. See the Assessment Rates section of this notice below.
Verification
As provided in section 782(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended
(the Act), we verified the information submitted by AVISMA with regard
to its sales in the United States.
We used standard verification procedures including examination of
relevant accounting and production records and original source
documents provided by AVISMA. See U.S. Sales Verification Report,
entitled ``Verification of the Sales Response of PSC VSMPO-AVISMA
Corporation in
[[Page 26924]]
the Antidumping Review of Magnesium Metal from the Russian
Federation,'' (U.S. Sales Verification Report), dated May 7, 2010. We
are scheduled to conduct the home-market sales and cost-of-production
verifications in mid-May 2010. Any post-preliminary results
verification findings will be reflected in the final results.
Date of Sale
The petitioner has alleged that AVISMA made sales to certain U.S.
customers where the issuance of invoices for such sales occurred in the
2007/08 POR but the subject merchandise was shipped during the 2008/09
POR. The petitioner alleges that these sales should be reported in the
2008/09 POR because the material terms of these ``bill-and-hold sales''
were not established until AVISMA shipped its merchandise to its U.S.
customers (and received payment), not when it issued the invoice.
AVISMA has contended that the date of sale is the invoice date because
the terms of sales were final and, as a result, it was appropriate to
report the bill-and-hold sales in the completed 2007/08 administrative
review. The petitioner disputes AVISMA's claim and has requested that
the Department require AVISMA to report the disputed sales in this
review. The petitioner contends that, if AVISMA does not report these
sales, the Department should apply facts available with an adverse
inference to AVISMA for not acting to the best of its ability.
Section 351.401(i) of the Department's regulations states that, in
identifying the date of sale of the subject merchandise or foreign like
product, the Secretary normally will use the date of invoice, as
recorded in the exporter's or producer's records kept in the ordinary
course of business. The Preamble to those regulations clarifies that,
``* * * absent satisfactory evidence that the terms of sale were
finally established on a different date, the Department will presume
that the date of sale is the date of invoice.'' See Antidumping Duties;
Countervailing Duties, 62 FR at 27349.
As mentioned above, we have conducted the verification of AVISMA's
U.S. sales response. We examined AVISMA's bill-and-hold arrangements
with several of its U.S. customers for various products it sells in the
United States. We found that AVISMA issues the invoice with set terms
of the sale but, at the request of its bill-and-hold customers, it
ships the items at a later date. We determined that the material terms
of sale for these bill-and-hold transactions did not change between the
date of invoice and date of shipment. Through our examination of
AVISMA's accounting records, we found that, although the merchandise
may be in AVISMA's warehouse for some time until it ships the
merchandise to its U.S. customers, AVISMA treats the inventory in its
normal books and records as if it left the warehouse for shipment on
the date it issues the invoice. Thus, according to AVISMA's books and
records, the company treats the sales made through the bill-and-hold
methodology as final sales although AVISMA may not have shipped the
merchandise to its U.S. customer until sometime later or may not have
received payment for the sale until after it shipped the merchandise.
For further information, See U.S. Sales Verification Report and
Decision Memorandum entitled ``Magnesium Metal from the Russian
Federation--Bill-and-Hold Sales Invoiced During the 2007/2008
Administrative Review,'' dated May 7, 2010.
Finally, through our examination of customs documents related to
the bill-and-hold sales, we found that all of the disputed sales
entered for consumption during the 2007/08 POR and, therefore, will be
liquidated in accordance with the final court ruling concerning the
final results of that review. See U.S. Sales Verification Report.
Constructed Export Price
AVISMA identified all of its sales to the United States as
constructed export-price (CEP) sales because the U.S. sales were made
for the account of AVISMA by AVISMA's U.S. affiliate, VSMPO-Tirus,
U.S., Inc. (Tirus US), to unaffiliated purchasers in the United States.
AVISMA and Tirus US are affiliated because Tirus US is a wholly owned
subsidiary of AVISMA. See section 771(33)(E) of the Act. U.S. sales to
the first unaffiliated party were made in the United States by the U.S.
affiliate, thus satisfying the legal requirements for considering these
transactions to be CEP sales. See section 772(b) of the Act.
We calculated CEP based on the packed, C.I.F. price to unaffiliated
purchasers in the United States. In accordance with section 772(c)(2)
of the Act, for AVISMA's CEP sales we made deductions from price for
movement expenses and discounts, where appropriate. More specifically,
we deducted early-payment discounts, expenses for Russian railway
freight from plant to port, freight insurance, Russian brokerage,
handling and port charges, international freight and marine insurance,
U.S. customs duties, U.S. brokerage, handling, and port charges, U.S.
warehousing, and U.S. inland freight.
In accordance with section 772(d)(1) of the Act, we deducted direct
selling expenses and indirect selling expenses related to commercial
activity in the United States. See also Statement of Administrative
Action accompanying the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, H.R. Doc. No.
103-316, vol. 1 (1994) at 823-824. Pursuant to sections 772(d)(3) and
772(f) of the Act, we made an adjustment for CEP profit allocated to
expenses deducted under section 772(d)(1) of the Act. In accordance
with section 772(f) of the Act, we computed profit based on the total
revenues realized on sales in both the U.S. and home markets, less all
expenses associated with those sales. We then allocated profit to
expenses incurred with respect to U.S. economic activity based on the
ratio of total U.S. expenses to total expenses for both the U.S. and
home markets. See AVISMA Preliminary Results Analysis Memorandum dated
May 7, 2010.
Normal Value
Based on a comparison of the aggregate quantity of home-market and
U.S. sales and absent any information that a particular market
situation in the exporting country did not permit a proper comparison,
we determined that the quantity of foreign like product sold by AVISMA
in the exporting country was sufficient to permit a proper comparison
with the sales of the subject merchandise to the United States under
section 773(a) of the Act. AVISMA's quantity of sales in its home
market was greater than five percent of its sales to the U.S. market.
Therefore, in accordance with section 773(a)(1)(B)(i) of the Act, we
considered basing normal value on the prices at which the foreign like
product was first sold for consumption in the exporting country in the
usual commercial quantities and in the ordinary course of trade and, to
the extent practicable, at the same level of trade as the CEP sales.
In accordance with section 771(16)(A) of the Act, we considered all
products produced by AVISMA that are covered by the description in the
Scope of the Order section, above, and that were sold in the home
market during the POR to be foreign like products for purposes of
determining appropriate product comparisons to U.S. sales. In
accordance with sections 771(16)(B) and (C) of the Act, where there
were no sales of identical merchandise in the home market to compare to
U.S. sales, we considered comparing U.S. sales to the most similar
foreign like product on the basis of the product characteristics we
determined to be the most appropriate for purposes of matching
products.
[[Page 26925]]
Cost-of-Production Analysis
We disregarded below-cost sales in accordance with section 773(b)
of the Act in the last completed review with respect to AVISMA in which
it participated. See Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation: Final
Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 73 FR 52642, 52643
(September 10, 2008) (06/07 Final). Therefore, we have reasonable
grounds to believe or suspect that sales of the foreign like product
under consideration for the determination of normal value in this
review may have been made at prices below the cost of production (COP)
as provided by section 773(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the Act. Therefore, pursuant
to section 773(b)(1) of the Act, we conducted a COP investigation of
sales by AVISMA in the home market.
In accordance with section 773(b)(3) of the Act, we calculated a
weighted-average COP based on the sum of the cost of materials and
fabrication for the foreign like product, plus amounts for home-market
selling, general and administrative expenses, interest expense, and
packing expenses.
In its normal books and records, AVISMA treats raw magnesium as a
by-product of its titanium operations. Raw magnesium and chlorine gas
are produced jointly during the third major processing step, the
electrolysis stage (i.e., the split-off point), during which both
products become identifiable physically. The calculation of the by-
product value for raw magnesium starts with the total sales value of
finished goods produced. This amount is then reduced by the budgeted
profit, selling expenses, and post-split-off costs. The remaining
amount is deemed to represent the total net realizable value (NRV) of
raw magnesium. This value is used to value the raw magnesium offset in
calculating a total NRV for chlorine gas.
For reporting purposes in this administrative review, AVISMA
departed from its normal books and records and estimated the value of
chlorine gas based on a facility it intends to operate in the future.
It also treated chlorine gas as a by-product of raw magnesium
production. AVISMA valued chlorine gas at the estimated cost of liquid
chlorine plus estimated transportation and gasification costs it
estimated for the new facility. It then deducted the total estimated
value of chlorine gas from the total joint costs and assigned the
remaining joint costs to raw magnesium. See AVISMA's August 4, 2009,
section D response at 34-36 and exhibits 4B and 4C.
We agree with AVISMA that for purposes of this review it is proper
to depart from its normal books and records. We preliminarily find,
however, that it is reasonable to treat chlorine gas and market-quality
raw magnesium produced jointly at the split-off point as co-products
because the total NRV of chlorine gas relative to the total NRV of
market-quality raw magnesium is significant. This is consistent with
our findings in the 2006/2007 review of the order where we treated
chlorine gas and market-quality raw magnesium as co-products. See 06/07
Final, and accompanying Issues and Decision Memorandum at Comments 1-3.
For the purpose of allocating the split-off-point joint costs to
these two co-products, we estimated the NRV of chlorine gas. We
estimated the NRV of chlorine gas following the same replacement-value
method we used in the 2006/2007 review. To calculate the NRV of market-
quality raw magnesium, we started with AVISMA's 2002 average values
reported for pure magnesium and magnesium metal products. From these
average values we deducted the separable costs incurred by AVISMA
beyond the split-off point. We also accounted for the actual quantity
of market-quality raw magnesium used to produce one metric ton of pure
magnesium, or magnesium metal, by application of the product-specific
yield ratio.
We recalculated the joint costs incurred at the split-off point
during the POR by adding back the market-quality raw magnesium by-
product offset and removing the cost of chlorine gas (i.e., the
chlorine gas produced at split-off point and recycled back to the
previous processing stage) from the inputs used in the production of
market-quality raw magnesium and chlorine gas. Likewise, we adjusted
the split-off-point chlorine-gas production quantity for the quantities
recycled back to the previous processing stage.
We allocated the split-off-point joint costs to chlorine gas and
market-quality raw magnesium in proportion to their respective NRVs. We
used the net interest expense ratio that AVISMA calculated based on the
amounts reported in AVISMA's 2008 fiscal-year audited consolidated
financial statements prepared in accordance with International
Financial Reporting Standards.
For more details, See Memorandum to Neal M. Halper, Director,
Office of Accounting, through Michael P. Martin, Lead Accountant, from
Sheikh M. Hannan, Senior Accountant, entitled ``Cost of Production and
Constructed Value Calculation Adjustments for the Preliminary Results--
PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation and VSMPO--Tirus US Inc.,'' dated May 7,
2010.
After calculating the COP and in accordance with section 773(b)(1)
of the Act, we tested whether home-market sales of the foreign like
product were made at prices below the COP within an extended period of
time in substantial quantities and whether such prices permitted the
recovery of all costs within a reasonable period of time. We compared
model-specific COPs to the reported home-market prices less any
applicable movement charges, discounts, and rebates. Pursuant to
section 773(b)(2)(C) of the Act, when less than 20 percent of a
respondent's sales of a given product were at prices less than the COP,
we do not disregard any below-cost sales of that product because the
below-cost sales were not made in substantial quantities within an
extended period of time. When 20 percent or more of a respondent's
sales of a given product were at prices less than the COP, we disregard
the below-cost sales because they were made in substantial quantities
within an extended period of time pursuant to sections 773(b)(2)(B) and
(C) of the Act and because, based on comparisons of prices to weighted-
average COPs for the POR, such sales were at prices which would not
permit recovery of all costs within a reasonable period of time in
accordance with section 773(b)(2)(D) of the Act. Based on this test, we
did not disregard any of AVISMA's home-market sales of magnesium metal
because all such sales passed the cost test. See AVISMA Preliminary
Results Analysis Memorandum dated May 7, 2010.
Level of Trade
In the U.S. market, AVISMA made CEP sales. In the case of CEP
sales, we identified the level of trade based on the price after the
deduction of expenses and profit under section 772(d) of the Act.
Although the starting price for CEP sales was based on sales made by
the affiliated reseller to unaffiliated customers through two channels
of distribution, sales to end-users and distributors, AVISMA reported
similar selling activities associated with all sales to the affiliated
reseller (i.e., at the CEP level of trade).
AVISMA reported one channel of distribution in the home market,
sales to end-users. We found that this channel of distribution
constitutes a single level of trade in the home market. To determine
whether home-market sales were made at a different level of trade than
U.S. sales, we examined stages in the
[[Page 26926]]
marketing process and selling functions along the chain of distribution
between the producer and the unaffiliated customer. We found that there
were significant differences between the selling activities associated
with the CEP level of trade and those associated with the home-market
level of trade and, thus, we found the CEP level of trade to be
different from the home-market level of trade. Further, we found the
CEP level of trade to be at a less advanced stage of distribution than
the home-market level of trade.
Because AVISMA reported no home-market levels of trade that were
equivalent to the CEP level of trade and because we determined that the
CEP level of trade was at a less advanced stage than the single home-
market level of trade, we were unable to determine a level-of-trade
adjustment based on the respondent's home-market sales of the foreign
like product. Furthermore, we have no other information that provides
an appropriate basis for determining a level-of-trade adjustment. For
AVISMA's CEP sales, we made a CEP-offset adjustment in accordance with
section 773(a)(7)(B) of the Act. For a description of our level-of-
trade analysis for these preliminary results, See AVISMA Preliminary
Results Analysis Memorandum dated May 7, 2010.
Currency Conversion
For purposes of the preliminary results and in accordance with
section 773A of the Act, we made currency conversions based on the
official exchange rates in effect on the dates of the U.S. sales as
certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. See 19 CFR 351.415.
Preliminary Results of Review
As a result of our review, we preliminarily determine that the
following weighted-average dumping margins on magnesium metal from the
Russian Federation exist for the period April 1, 2008, through March
31, 2009:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margin
Manufacturer/exporter (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSC VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation................................ 0.00
Solikamsk Magnesium Works................................... *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ No shipments or sales subject to this review. The firm has an
individual rate from the last segment of the proceeding in which the
firm had shipments or sales.
Disclosure and Public Comment
Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.224(b), the Department will disclose to any
party to the proceeding the calculations performed in connection with
these preliminary results within five days after the date of
publication of this notice. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.309(c), case briefs
or other written comments may be submitted to the Assistant Secretary
for Import Administration no later than seven days after the date of
the last verification report issued in this review and rebuttal briefs,
limited to issues raised in case briefs, no later than five days after
the deadline date for case briefs. A list of authorities used and an
executive summary of issues should accompany any briefs submitted to
the Department. This summary should be limited to five pages total,
including footnotes.
In accordance with 19 CFR 351.310, we will hold a public hearing,
if requested, to afford interested parties an opportunity to comment on
arguments raised in case or rebuttal briefs. If requested, a hearing
will be held two days after the deadline for submission of the rebuttal
briefs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230, at a time and location to be
determined. Parties should confirm by telephone the date, time, and
location of the hearing two days before the scheduled date. Interested
parties who wish to request a hearing, or to participate if one is
requested, must submit a written request to the Assistant Secretary for
Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1870, within
30 days of the date of publication of this notice. See 19 CFR
351.310(c). Requests should contain (1) the party's name, address, and
telephone number, (2) the number of participants, and (3) a list of the
issues to be discussed. At the hearing, each party may make an
affirmative presentation only on issues raised in that party's case
brief and may make rebuttal presentations only on arguments included in
that party's rebuttal brief. See 19 CFR 351.310(c).
Assessment Rates
The Department shall determine, and CBP shall assess, antidumping
duties on all appropriate entries. In accordance with 19 CFR
351.212(b)(1), we have calculated an importer-specific assessment rate
for AVISMA reflecting these preliminary results of review.
The Department clarified its ``automatic assessment'' regulation on
May 6, 2003. See Assessment of Antidumping Duties. This clarification
will apply to entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced by
AVISMA or SMW for which AVISMA or SMW did not know their merchandise
was destined for the United States. In such instances, we will instruct
CBP to liquidate unreviewed entries of merchandise produced by AVISMA
or SMW at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate
company(ies) involved in the transaction. For a full discussion of this
clarification, See Assessment of Antidumping Duties.
The Department will issue instructions to CBP 15 days after the
publication of the final results of review.
Cash-Deposit Requirements
The following deposit requirements will be effective upon
completion of the final results of this administrative review for all
shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from
warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication of the final
results of this administrative review, as provided in section 751(a)(1)
of the Act: (1) The cash-deposit rate for the reviewed firms will be
those established in the final results of this review; (2) for
previously reviewed or investigated companies not covered in this
review, the cash-deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific
rate published for the most recent period; (3) if the exporter is not a
firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the less-than-fair-
value (LTFV) investigation but the manufacturer is, the cash-deposit
rate will be the rate established for the most recent period for the
manufacturer of the subject merchandise; (4) if neither the exporter
nor the manufacturer is a firm covered in this or any previous segment
of the proceeding, the cash-deposit rate will continue to be the all-
others rate established in the LTFV investigation, which is 21.01
percent. See Antidumping Duty Order. These cash-deposit requirements,
when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.
Notification to Importers
This notice serves as a preliminary reminder to importers of their
responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate
regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation
of the relevant entries during this review period. Failure to comply
with this requirement could result in the Secretary's presumption that
reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent
assessment of double antidumping duties.
The preliminary results of this administrative review and this
notice are issued and published in accordance with sections 751(a)(1)
and 777(i)(1) of the Act.
[[Page 26927]]
Dated: May 7, 2010.
Ronald K. Lorentzen,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-11463 Filed 5-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P