BEIJING - The Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that it will initiate an anti-dumping and countervailing investigation into imports of solar-grade polysilicon, a material used in solar equipment manufacturing, from the European Union.

The probe will be finished before November 1, 2013 but may be extended for another six months under special circumstances, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The probe was made in response to requests filed by Chinese polysilicon manufacturers, including LDK Solar Co Ltd and the China Silicon Corp in September, the statement said.

The case follows an anti-dumping probe into imports of solar-grade polysilicon from the United States and Republic of Korea launched on July 20.

The statement said the ministry will combine the two cases and make an accumulative evaluation.

Customs data showed that China imported 9,300 tons of polysilicon from the EU in the first half of the year, an increase of 30.8 percent from a year earlier.

However, the average price for polysilicon imports during the period dropped 47.5 percent compared to the previous year, the data showed.