The European Commission has suspended tariff preferences for Pakistani non-fuel ethanol imports, responding to EU ethanol producers’ demands that an inflow of low-cost imports from the country was putting pressure on prices and destabilizing markets.
The Commission stated in its ruling, published in the EU’s Official Journal on Friday, that Pakistan was the EU’s largest source of non-fuel ethanol imports last year, accounting for more than a quarter of the total.
EU customs statistics show that total ethanol imports have steadily increased over the past few years, with non-fuel ethanol imports into the EU nearly doubling from around 376,000 metric tons in 2021 to 726,000 metric tons in 2024, the report added.
Pakistani ethanol imports rose by nearly 300% to 393,590 tons between 2021 and 2022 and remained 244% higher than 2021 imports in 2023.
While EU non-fuel ethanol production fell. In the year before it was 8% lower than in 2021, it stated.
The information and data presented presented revealed a coincidence in time between the development of imports from Pakistan and the severe disruption to Union markets, the Commission added.
The Commission finds that there is evidence of a grave disturbance in the Union market for non-fuel ethanol, marked by a sharp rise in imports at considerably lower prices than those of Union producers and a fall in Union output,” it said.
EU ethanol producers embraced the step, due to last two years, though they had sought three-year duration and stated the fact that it did not cover ethanol blended in fuel cast doubts on possible circumvention.
