On June 24, 2026, the European Commission issued its final ruling in the anti‑dumping investigation concerning imports of 1,4‑butanediol (BDO) originating in China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, imposing definitive anti‑dumping duties effective from June 25.
The duty rates vary widely among the three countries. For China, Xinjiang Markor Chemical Co., Ltd. faces 105.6%, Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Co., Ltd. 113.7%, while four cooperating companies – Yuanli Chemical, Inner Mongolia Dongjing Biotechnology, Henan Kaixiang Fine Chemical, and Xinjiang Lanshan Tunhe – are subject to a uniform rate of 107.5%. All other non‑cooperating Chinese producers are subject to the top rate of 113.7%. Saudi Arabian producers are levied at 52.4%, while U.S. producers face the highest duties, ranging from 135.7% to 142.5%.
In 2024, the EU imported BDO worth €140 million from these three countries. The anti‑dumping case was initiated by INEOS Solvents SA, a representative EU producer of BDO, which filed a complaint in April 2025, with the investigation formally opened in June of the same year.
During the investigation, major EU downstream players such as Lubrizol and Covestro raised objections, arguing that the anti‑dumping duties would directly raise BDO raw material costs, weaken the competitiveness of end products like TPU and PBT, and potentially lead to supply shortages. The European Commission responded that the EU’s domestic BDO industry currently has 60% idle capacity, and companies such as BASF and INEOS have already announced plans to increase production and restart capacity. It also noted that downstream companies could source from non‑dutied countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, China. According to EU investigation data, BDO raw material costs account for only 14% of total downstream product costs on average.
In determining the dumping margin, the European Commission stated that “there are significant market distortions in the Chinese domestic market” and selected Brazil as a surrogate country, using its market data to construct normal value.
China’s BDO industry now faces multiple overlapping pressures: the EU’s high anti‑dumping duties close off the European export channel; since April 2026, China has cancelled export rebates for BDO; and domestic BDO production capacity has already exceeded 4 million metric tons per year, with the product listed on the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation’s high‑risk early‑warning list. With the EU market closed, a large volume of BDO capacity will be forced to shift to domestic sales, further intensifying oversupply pressure in the domestic market.
