China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Friday to launch an anti-dumping investigation into imported propanoic acid originating in the U.S. starting from July 21, 2023.

The MOC received an application for an anti-dumping investigation submitted by Jiangsu Chemical Industry Association on behalf of the Chinese chemical industry on May 23, 2023, requiring the MOC to probe into the imported propanoic acid originating in the U.S.

Propanoic acid is an important fine chemical product and organic synthetic raw material, which is mainly used for production of preservatives, fungicides, herbicides, pharmaceutical intermediates and so on, and is widely used in food, feed, pesticides, medicine and other fields.

China is one of the major consumers of propanoic acid across the world, with a growing trend for more supply in these years. Official data shows that China also imports all propanoic acid from the U.S. and since 2019, the imported chemical material originating in the U.S. has accounted for about 30 percent of the Chinese market on average.