Pakistan’s soda ash industry gets anti-dumping protections

Pakistan’s domestic soda ash producers have won a significant, if time-limited, reprieve from import pressure after the National Tariff Commission (NTC) imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on disodium carbonate (soda ash) imports originating in and/or exported from Türkiye and Kenya. The move follows a preliminary finding that these imports were being dumped into Pakistan and had caused material injury to local industry.

Under the preliminary determination, the NTC has applied provisional duties for four months at differentiated rates: 5.58% on most Turkish exporters, 3.49% on selected Turkish producers, and 12.54% on exporters from Kenya, according to the equity research note and local reporting.

For investors, the immediate focus is what “frictions” mean for the two listed companies that dominate the market: Lucky Core Industries Limited (LCI) and Olympia Chemical Limited. The sector note argues that duties should provide structural support to the domestic soda ash industry, especially after several years in which import competition appears to have forced local players to defend volumes and accept weaker pricing. In the broker’s framing, that pressure has been visible in falling gross margins within soda ash businesses – with LCI’s soda ash gross margin cited at 23% in FY25, down from 31% in FY22, while Olympia’s comparable margins also trended downwards in recent years.