Mechanism
Resolução GECEX nº 892, de 7 de maio de 2026, published in the Diário Oficial da União on 8 May 2026, modifies the definitive anti-dumping duty previously applied by Resolução GECEX nº 253, de 24 de setembro de 2021, on imports of metallic magnesium in crude forms (magnésio metálico em formas brutas) from China.
Product scope: NCM 8104.11.00 (magnesium in crude forms, ≥99.8% Mg by weight) and 8104.19.00 (lower-purity crude magnesium). Both subitems are fully within scope.
Duty structure change: The modification switches the anti-dumping duty from its prior form to a specific tariff fixed in US dollars per kilogram (alíquota específica fixada em dólares estadunidenses por quilograma). A specific duty form is typical for DECOM reviews when ad-valorem rates become distorted by price manipulation — China's domestic magnesium prices are state-influenced, making price-based ad-valorem measures more susceptible to circumvention via under-invoicing.
Procedural basis: The resolution was deliberated at GECEX's 236th Ordinary Meeting on 30 April 2026, based on Parecer SEI nº 258/2026/MDIC (DECOM's internal technical opinion recommending the duty-form modification).
Why the original is not on the register: The originating 2021 measure (GECEX nº 253/2021) predates the IPTM filing horizon; this 2026 modification is filed as a new action capturing the current in-force measure.
Downstream implications
- Critical-material re-pricing: China supplies ~85% of global primary magnesium (Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces are the dominant production zones). Brazil's AD wall on Chinese crude magnesium structurally re-prices one of the cheapest inputs to aluminium alloy production in a country with a large automotive OEM footprint (Volkswagen, GM, Stellantis, Toyota all manufacture in Brazil).
- Aluminium alloys / lightweighting: Magnesium (typically 0.5–3% by weight) is alloyed with aluminium to produce the structural grades used in automotive bodywork, battery enclosures for EVs, and aerospace fuselage skins. An effective AD barrier on Chinese magnesium imports increases input costs for Brazilian aluminium alloyers, or redirects procurement toward non-Chinese suppliers (Australia, Israel, Turkey) at a price premium.
- Steel desulphurisation: Metallic magnesium in crude form is also used in iron/steel ladle desulphurisation (magnesium injection). Brazil is the seventh-largest crude-steel producer globally; duties that raise magnesium input costs propagate into steelmaking cost stacks.
- CRMA alignment: Magnesium appears in CRMA Annex I (strategic raw materials) as well as EU Critical Raw Materials Act risk-tier assessments. Brazil's AD measure adds to the multi-country perimeter of trade-remedy and export-control measures that collectively constrain the free movement of Chinese primary magnesium — directly relevant to the exposure engine's supply-chain concentration model.
Open questions
- Exact USD/kg specific duty rate not publicly confirmed in search results — verify against DOU 08/05/2026 text of GECEX nº 892 or the LegisWeb full-text replication.
- Duration: GECEX 253/2021 was a definitive 5-year measure; the 2026 modification should confirm whether the duty extension clock was reset or runs to the original expiry (nominally around September 2026 for a 5-year measure from 2021 — this modification may be a sunset-review instrument extending the duty alongside changing its form).
- Domestic petitioner identity in the original 2021 case was not confirmed — likely the Brazilian Magnesium Industry Association or a sole domestic producer; DECOM case files would confirm.