DSF

Hi all,

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I looked around the boards and couldn't find the relevant section, or any discussion on it.

I'm looking at adding sublimation printing to our online business and have been doing a bit of research (and holding back to see what the effects of Royal Mails 2013 price increases were likely to be), now we know where we are postage wise come April I've come across another potential snag, EU anti dumping laws on ceramics, I don't know much about it, but from what I've read there is likely to be a hold up in the supply chain when these laws come into effect, meaning mug blanks, money boxes etc are going to go up due to massive import duty increases.

Has anybody got any further information on this, as I guess most blanks are manufactured in China and imported, or are there competitively priced manufacturers in the UK (I won't hold my breath on that one).

I had a HMRC link, but can't find it, but there's a bit about it here.. http://www.thecustomspractice.com/1/pos ... china.html

I know there is a little bit about it in the thread here.. http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/sh ... ti+dumping

The pricing on mugs should have started to settle by now. Not massive price rises so far like first expected considering the % increase. I know there is lobbying taking place in the European courts to overturn it as well.

Thanks for the replies, and the link, it's given me some more reading (I also found some reading on stress testing in the link, very interesting).

I'm just looking at potential suppliers at the moment, the postal price increase for non account customers has pushed me into looking at accounts and volumes (not to mention a panic at the amount of stock I have here that doesn't fit into the new "small package" category with RM, so it has all set me back on setting up with the sublimation plan, I was looking at purchasing until I saw the proposed price hikes and size limits, and about the anti dumping tax, so once I've straightened out the postal mess for the business I'm back on the case...

Not all supplies come from China - a lot is made in other countries to which the new tax doesn't apply.

One of the largest factories outside of China which is based in Thailand put their prices up after the new tax started kicking into play. This was based on increased wages etc or so they say. They had a chance to run for 6 months and stick it to China but chose to go up around the same time. Didn't make sense to me.