The document was drawn up by the Ministry of Economic Development and approved by the Sub-commission for Customs Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation and Foreign Trade Protection of the Government Commission on Economic Development and Integration on 15 November 2013.
The resolution establishes fixed rates of export duties for tungsten ores and concentrates at 10% of their customs value.
Tungsten concentrate was exported duty-free until 19 November 2012, when Government Resolution No. 1182 established customs duties for 12 months as Russian industrial demand for tungsten was skyrocketing.
Tungsten concentrate is used in the manufacture of compound steel and hard alloys for the processing, electrical engineering and defence industries, and in drilling. Domestic supplies are insufficient to satisfy the Russian metal industry’s growing demands, while even duty-free imports are practically impossible.
The introduction of 10% fixed export duties is expected to channel up to half of current tungsten concentrate exports into the domestic market.
Exports accounted for 74% of the overall amount of manufactured tungsten concentrate in 2012, as compared to 48% the year before, while the introduction of export duties in late 2012 cut exports by 30% as early as the first half of 2013, to increase the use of industrial capacities from 22% to 34%. However, the normal performance of processing industries is impossible when less than 60-70% of their capacities are used.
Permanent export duties promise to provide sufficient tungsten concentrate supplies to the Russian processing industry.
