L 55/6 Official Journal of the European Union 28.2.2008 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 172/2008 of 25 February 2008 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and collecting definitively the provisional duty imposed on imports of ferro-silicon originating in the People’s Republic of China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Russia THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22 December 1995 on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European Community (') (the basic Regulation), and in particular Article 9 thereof, Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission after consulting the Advisory Committee, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE 1.1. Provisional measures The Commission, by Regulation (EC) No 994/2007 (3 (the provisional Regulation) imposed a provisional anti- dumping duty on imports of ferro-silicon (FeSi), currently classifiable within CN codes 7202 21 00, 7202 29 10 and 7202 29 90, originating in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Egypt, Kazakhstan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Russia. 1.2. Subsequent procedures Subsequent to the disclosure of the essential facts and considerations on the basis of which it was decided to impose provisional anti-dumping measures (provisional disclosure), several interested parties made written submissions making their views known on the pro- visional findings. The parties who so requested were granted an opportunity to be heard. The Commission continued to seek and verify all information it deemed necessary for its definitive findings. The Commission continued its investigation with regard to Community interest aspects and carried out analysis of data within the questionnaire replies provided by some users in the Community after the imposition of the provisional anti-dumping measures. () OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1, Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2117/2005 (O] L 340, 23.12.2005, p. 17). () O] L 223, 29.8.2007, p. 1. ) In recital 166 of the provisional Regulation the Commission undertook to analyse further and in more detail the effect of provisional measures on the situation of the users, before any final determination is made. For this purpose, the Commission contacted and sent questionnaires directly and via associations to around 500 foundries located in the Community, since this category of user industry had not shown any particular interest in the current proceeding prior to the imposition of provisional measures. In addition, all steel producers cooperating at provisional stage were requested to provide additional information in order to enable the Commission to analyse the possible effect of provisional measures on their activity. Questionnaire replies were received from only seven foundries and additional information was received from eight steel producers. All seven of the former and three of the latter undertakings provided the necessary infor- mation to analyse in depth the effect of the provisional measures on their economic situation. In view of the complex structure in which the Chinese exporting producer granted market economy treatment (MET) was operating during the period under investi- gation, additional information was requested in order to reach definitive findings. Moreover, as indicated in recital 49 of the provisional Regulation, because of the fact that the Chinese exporting producer was purchasing electricity from a related supplier, its costs associated with the production of FeSi were also further inves- tigated. In view of the above, three additional verification visits were carried out at the premises of the following companies: — Erdos, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, electricity supplier in the PRC, — Trompetter Guss, Chemnitz, Germany, user (foundry) in the Community, — Arcelor Mittal, Genk, Belgium, user (steel producer) in the Community. The oral and written comments submitted by the interested parties were considered and, where appro- priate, the findings have been modified accordingly.