South Korea's trade commission on Friday launched a formal investigation into alleged dumping by a local importer of ethanolamine.

The probe will affect products from the United States, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Ethanolamine is a chemical compound used to produce various products including detergent and plasticizer.

In 2012, the country's market for ethanolamine came to about US$47 million with 49 percent of the total supplied by the four countries, the ministry said in a press release.

The probe by the Korea Trade Commission will take about three months, during which the commission will also interview suppliers from the four countries.

The commission will make a preliminary decision in March on whether to impose anti-dumping duties on products supplied by the local importer, KPX Green Chemical. A final decision will likely be made in June, the ministry said. (Yonhap News)