BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union members cleared the way on Wednesday for the bloc to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of titanium dioxide (TiO2) from China, according to sources with knowledge of the EU investigation.

Some 15 EU countries voted for and eight against duties, with four abstentions, the sources said. The duties on the product chiefly used as a white pigment in paints should be imposed by Jan. 11 and apply for five years.

The European Commission’s proposed duties of 0.25 euro per kilogramme for Anhui Gold Star Group and 0.74 euro for LB Group, with rates of 0.64 euro for companies deemed to have cooperated with the investigation and 0.74 euro for all other companies.

In July, the EU imposed provisional duties of 14.4% to 39.7%. These will be replaced by the definitive duties, which in percentage terms are slightly lower.

The Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, launched its investigation a year ago after a complaint by a coalition of EU producers, which did not identify themselves.

They argued unfairly cheap Chinese imports had risen sharply to a 22% market share, pushing profitability of EU producers to unsustainable levels. They also argued the EU industry could fulfil 90% of EU demand, with imports from other countries, such as Britain, Mexico and the United States.

Chinese TiO2 imports in 2023 were worth just over half a billion euros, Eurostat data showed.

Producers in the European Union include Cinkarna, Kronos, Tronox and Venator.

European paints and printing ink association CEPE urged EU members last week to reject the duties, saying TiO2 accounted for about 20% of the final cost of finished products and threatened the viability of the 33 billion euro per year EU paints sector.

An exemption has been granted for TiO2 imports used to produce white graphic inks for printing.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Jonathan Oatis)