Bem Brasil, the Brazilian potato processor that was proved right on Wednesday in the anti-dumping tax for imported chips from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France, will open its second factory the following day. The Dutch and Belgian chips industry is dumbfounded.
The factory in Minas Gerias was opened on Thursday in the presence of officials from the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Together with the first production location that opened in 2006, the annual capacity amounts to 250.000 tons of fries. Bem claims to represent 55 percent of the national market.
The director indicates that he wants to compete on the global market and expand exports. He already exports flakes to Japan, but he wants to add fries. Last year, Japan imported 222.000 tons of French fries from the US, according to a Brazilian website. He also aims at the Middle East. Coincidentally the growth markets of the Belgian-Dutch chip industry.
Anger among the processors. What the next step will be depends on the precise content of the resolution. 'We will first consult with each other, but we cannot do much more than enter into a legal battle. However, you are then walking on thin ice. You can be right, but who says you will also be right in another country. Moreover, it costs a lot of money, while the current procedure has already cost a bomb of money," says Romain Cools, who is involved in the case as general secretary of Belgapom.
Brazil is the most important export market for Belgium after Saudi Arabia. Cools does not expect the European Commission to be able to do anything. 'They indicate that they cannot do anything, so we are further powerless. It is a swallow for the entire Belgian-Dutch potato chain, because recently Saudi Arabia the import tax has increased and I fear more cases like this. The impact is greatest for family businesses in processing and growers.'