Toner Battle to be Fought in India

Toner Battle to be Fought in India

Two distinct sides appear to be emerging over the right to sell toner in India. The battle between local manufacturers and distributors of toner and those who import it is certain to get more intense. The global demand for toner is not increasing as dramatically as it was five years ago and so there is pressure on all players to maintain market share.

In India, there is already a ten percent duty tax on all toners that are imported into the country. This is a common practice by governments around the world to protect local jobs and businesses. Toners are typically imported from mainland China and Taiwan, as well as Malaysia, Korea, Singapore and Japan.

Now, however, there is going to be an investigation, supported by the local remanufacturers to see “anti-dumping” legislation passed that will make it almost impossible for toner importing to continue. The country implemented anti-dumping laws in 1975 as part of the Customs Tariff Act. Now the importing of toner could be included.

Anti-dumping laws are put in place in order to protect local manufacturers from cheap imports and are applied when imported product is sold cheaper than the domestic market price.

Local importers claim any anti-dumping legislation that would prevent them from continuing to import toners is not fair or reasonable.

“If anti-dumping is imposed, the cost for the toner will increase tremendously and we will not be able to sell imported toner in the future and we will be forced to buy from local manufacturers,” one importer in New Delhi told RT ImagingWorld News.

“The demand for toner cannot be met by local production alone,” he went on to explain. “The importing of toner is mandatory to meet the total demand of our market. It will also create a short supply situation for toner in the industry.”

When RT ImagingWorld News explored the matter further, another importer, also in New Delhi, claimed it was also about the quality of the toner needed by the Indian consumers. “The real reason for imports is that the quality of the toner from some suppliers abroad is much better.” He added, “The quality is also more consistent which is not the case with local manufacturers.” He explained the price is almost the same or marginally higher for these imported toners, but it has a huge market demand due to its consistency. 

Targeting Key Countries

Importers have been put on notice there will be an investigation. Toner is being imported from a number of source countries in southern and eastern Asia. However, the investigation letter clearly identifies imports from mainland China and Taiwan, and Malaysia are being targeted for the anti-dumping legislation. “That’s because their biggest competitors are from these three regions,” one importer declared. “It’s very obvious the domestic manufacturers want to increase their market share by imposing anti-dumping duties on them.”

The importers claim data collected over the past ten years allegedly reveals an average consumption per year of 4,000 tonnes for aftermarket black toners used in copiers and laser printers. However, the combined production cumulative production capacity of these two local players is only 2,700 tonnes per year.

Local importers believe that a shortage of toner will only force up the price of toner, domestically and threaten the livelihood of at least 110,000 independent refillers in India.

The importers say they have already formed an association and planning to file a reply to this investigation explaining their view on why anti-dumping is not necessary on toner imports into India. “We will present our case to the Ministry.”

Are you impacted by the toner battle to be fought in India over imports and local manufacturers? Comment below.

RT has partners in many countries around the globe including India.