No L 73/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 20. 3. 90 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 665/90 of 16 March 1990 imposing a provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of ferroboron alloy originating in Japan THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2423/88 of 11 July 1988 on protection against dumped or subsi- dized imports from countries not members of the Euro- pean Economic-Community (') and in particular Article - 11 thereof. After consultations. within the  Advisory Committee - as provided for by the above Regulation, . Whereas : A. PROCEDURE ()  The Commission received a complaint lodged by the ‘Comité de Liaison des producteurs de ferro- alliages de la Communauté Européenne’ on behalf of producers whose collective output constitutes almost all output in the Community of the product in question. The complaint contained evidence of dumping and of material injury resulting there- from, which was considered sufficient to justify the initiation of a proceeding. The Commission accor- dingly announced, by a notice published -in the Official Journal of the European Communities (%), the initiation of an anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports -into the Community of ferro- boron and commenced an investigation. The: product investigated coresponds to CN code ex 7202 99 90. (2) The Commission officially advised the exporters and importers known to be concerned, the repre- sentatives of the exporting country .and the complainants. It asked the parties concerned to answer the questionnaires which had been sent to them and gave them an opportunity to make known their views -in writing and to request a hearing. (33 Two Japanese exporters, five importers and the. three EEC producers returned-a questionnaire to the Commission duly completed and stated their views in writing. Three other Japanese companies had received exporters’ questionnaires two of which indicated that no ferroboron had been exported by them to the Community during the investigation period while the remaining company did not respond. () OJ No L 209, 2. 8. 1988, p. 1. () O] No C 306, 1. 12. 1988, p. 7. “) ®) ) @ ®) @) The Commission sought and verified all informa- tion it deemed necessary and carried out inspec- tions at the premises of the following companies : — EEC producers — London and Scandinavian Metallurgical Co., Ltd, London, United Kingdom, — Pechiney - Electrometallurgie, Paris, France, — Gesellschaft fir Elektrometallurgie GmbH, Diisseldorf, Germany ; _ — Japanese. producers/exporters . — Nippon Denko Co.,-Ltd, Tokyo, — Yahagi Iron Co., Ltd, Nagoya. The investigation on dumping covered the period from 1 January 1988 to 30 November 1988. Due to the complexity of the proceeding, in parti- cular the difficulties met by the Commission in obtaining, from interested parties, the relevant data to allow a provisional finding to be made, the investigation exceeded the normal period of one year. - B. PRODUCT UNDER CONSIDERATION L Description of Product The product. which is the subject of the investiga- tion is ferroboron, a ferro-alloy containing variously 16 % to 20 % of boron. Boron _is -added to steel because it increases its durability and hardness. Boron also finds wides- pread use as a means of fixing nitrogen, making the resultant steel non-ageing ageing and easier to work. The product is available in three-forms: grain, powder -and lumps. There are two different methods of manufacture : — Reduction of boric acid, boric oxide, colemanite or mixtures thereof with aluminium (alumino- therm), — Reduction of boric acid, boric oxide, colemanite or mixtures thereof with carbon (carbotherm). IL. Like product The Commission found that the ferroboron produced in the Community undergoes the same methods of manufacture as that sold in and exported from Japan and that they are like products in all essential physical and technical characteristics.