Saccharin from China - USITC

PART II: CONDITIONS OF COMPETITION IN THE U.S. MARKETU.S. MARKET SEGMENTS/CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTIONThe saccharin marketed in the United States by PMC and by importers is used in variousconsumer products as well as industrial and agricultural applications. Generally, there is little seasonalityin the demand for saccharin in most uses. One exception is diet soft drinks. As sales of soft drinksincrease during summer months the demand for the saccharin used in these beverages also increases. 1*** sales of saccharin in the United States by PMC went to *** during 2003-08; sales byimporters of Chinese-produced saccharin were divided between end users and distributors during thisperiod, with the majority going to end users in all years except 2004 as shown in table II-1.Table II-1saccharin: U.S. producers’ and importers’ shares of reported U.S. shipments, by source andchannel of distribution, 2003-08Calendar yearItem2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Share of reported shipments (percent)Domestic producers’ U.S. shipments of saccharin to:Distributors *** *** *** *** *** ***End users *** *** *** *** *** ***U.S. importers’ U.S. shipments of saccharin from China to:Distributors 35.0 100.0End users 65.0 0.0(1)(1)0.0 36.5 17.8100.0 63.5 82.2U.S. importers’ U.S. shipments of saccharin from all other countries to:Distributors 1.9 2.9 11.5 10.1 20.7 9.4End users 98.1 97.1 88.5 89.9 79.3 90.61 No shipments reported.Source: Complied from data submitted in response to Commission questionnaires.Lead times for delivery of saccharin vary widely. PMC reported that delivery requires only ***day when the product is sold from inventory, but requires *** days when it is produced to order. ***percent of PMC’s sales are from inventory and *** percent are produced to order. Importers of productfrom China reported that lead times typically range from 1 to 7 days if saccharin is in stock in the UnitedStates. However, if it has to be ordered, 2 to 4 months may be required. Among eight respondingimporters of saccharin from China, four reported that all or a majority of their sales are from inventoryand four reported that all or a majority of their sales are produced to order.1Original investigation, conference transcript, p. 41 (McCullough).II-1