Ferrovanadium from Korea Investigation No. 731-TA-1315 (Final) Publication 4683 May 2017 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission COMMISSIONERS Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Chairman David S. Johanson, Vice Chairman Irving A. Williamson Meredith M. Broadbent F. Scott Kieff Catherine DeFilippo Director of Operations Staff assigned Lawrence Jones, Investigator Karen Taylor, Industry Analyst Andrew Knipe, Economist Charles Yost, Accountant Maureen Letostak, Statistician Joseph Laroski, Attorney Douglas Corkran, Supervisory Investigator Address all communications to Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 www.usitc.gov Ferrovanadium from Korea Investigation No. 731-TA-1315 (Final) Publication 4683 May 2017 CONTENTS Page Determination ................................................................................................................................. 1 Views of the Commission ................................................................................................................ 3 Part I: Introduction ................................................................................................................ I‐1 Background ................................................................................................................................ I‐1 Statutory criteria and organization of the report ..................................................................... I‐2 Statutory criteria ................................................................................................................... I‐2 Organization of report ........................................................................................................... I‐3 Market summary ....................................................................................................................... I‐3 Summary data and data sources ............................................................................................... I‐4 Previous and related investigations .......................................................................................... I‐4 Nature and extent of sales at LTFV ........................................................................................... I‐7 The subject merchandise .......................................................................................................... I‐7 Commerce’s scope ................................................................................................................ I‐7 Tariff treatment ..................................................................................................................... I‐7 The product ............................................................................................................................... I‐8 Description and applications ................................................................................................. I‐8 Manufacturing processes ...................................................................................................... I‐9 Domestic like product issues ................................................................................................... I‐11 Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ............................................................ II‐1 U.S. market characteristics ....................................................................................................... II‐1 U.S. purchasers ......................................................................................................................... II‐1 Channels of distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐1 Geographic distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐3 Supply and demand considerations ……………………………………………………………………………………II‐3 U.S. supply ............................................................................................................................ II‐3 U.S. demand ......................................................................................................................... II‐7 i CONTENTS Page Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ‐‐ Continued ............................................ Substitutability issues ............................................................................................................. II‐10 Lead times .......................................................................................................................... II‐11 Knowledge of country sources ........................................................................................... II‐11 Factors affecting purchasing decisions............................................................................... II‐11 Comparison of U.S. produced and imported ferrovanadium ............................................ II‐15 Elasticity estimates ................................................................................................................. II‐18 U.S. supply elasticity ........................................................................................................... II‐18 U.S. demand elasticity ........................................................................................................ II‐18 Substitution elasticity ......................................................................................................... II‐18 Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment ....................................... III‐1 U.S. producers and tollees ...................................................................................................... III‐1 Changes in operations ......................................................................................................... III‐3 U.S. production, capacity, and capacity utilization ................................................................. III‐3 U.S. producers/tollees’ U.S. shipments and exports .............................................................. III‐5 U.S. producers/tollees’ inventories ......................................................................................... III‐6 U.S. producers/tollees’ imports and purchases ...................................................................... III‐6 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity ............................................................................ III‐8 Part IV: U.S. imports, apparent U.S. consumption, and market shares ................................ IV‐1 U.S. importers.......................................................................................................................... IV‐1 U.S. imports ............................................................................................................................. IV‐2 U.S. imports from subject and nonsubject countries ........................................................ IV‐2 Monthly imports ................................................................................................................ IV‐5 Negligibility ............................................................................................................................ IV‐10 Apparent U.S. consumption and U.S. market shares ............................................................ IV‐11 ii CONTENTS Page Part V: Pricing data ............................................................................................................... V‐1 Factors affecting prices ............................................................................................................ V‐1 Raw material costs ............................................................................................................... V‐1 Transportation costs to the U.S. market .............................................................................. V‐2 U.S. inland transportation costs ........................................................................................... V‐2 Pricing practices ....................................................................................................................... V‐2 Pricing methods .................................................................................................................... V‐2 Sales terms and discounts .................................................................................................... V‐7 Price leadership .................................................................................................................... V‐7 Price data .................................................................................................................................. V‐8 Price trends ........................................................................................................................... V‐9 Price comparisons .............................................................................................................. V‐10 Lost sales and lost revenue .................................................................................................... V‐11 Part VI: Financial experience of U.S. producers .................................................................... VI‐1 Background .............................................................................................................................