China to Cancel Tax Refund for Some Export Goods

Dear Valued Customers,

According to the Ministry of Finance, the tax refund on some exported steel, non-ferrous metals, silver powder, alcohol, cornflour, pesticides, medicines, chemical products, plastic goods, rubber and glass products, effective from July 15th 2010 will be called off.

A spokesperson for the China Commerce Ministry spokesman stated that the cancellation of the tax refund aims to push forward the targeted energy consumption reduction in China and does not mean a tightening of the country's foreign trade policy.

Experience from previous changes in the tax refund policy in China indicates that we expect to see a surge cargo in order to beat the deadline.

The immediate and estimated impact is expected to include but not limited to:

• Port congestion
• Space issue
• Late gate-in

Damco will closely monitor the effect of this change and will take all measures possible to maintain nominal operations of your supply chain.

Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our local customer service teams.

Sincerely,
Damco North Asia