Press Trust of India
New Delhi, August 3: China, South Korea and Japan together shipped almost 75 per cent of 25.7 lakh tonne finished steel imported by India in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, Parliament was informed Monday. China lead the tally with 7.23 lakh tonne (LT) followed by South Korea (6.03 LT), Japan (5.9 LT), Ukraine (95,340 tonne) and Germany (89,070 tonne), as per data tabled by Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha.
Indonesia with 83,300 tonne, Russia (56,720 tonne) and Taiwan (44,840 tonne) were the other major exporters of finished steel to India. According to the data, China, South Korea and Japan together exported 19.11 LT of finished steel in the first quarter of 2015-16 out of the total imports of 25.7 LT, accounting for 74.5 per cent of the total imports.
Tomar informed the House that “some domestic steel manufacturers and other stake holders have represented against the surge in imports of steel.” Government has ensured that only quality steel is imported through Steel and Steel Product (Quality Control) Order on March 12, 2013, which was amended on December 4, 2014, he said.
Anti-dumping duty has been imposed on hot rolled flat stainless steel products from China, Malaysia and South Korea on June 5 this year. In the same month, the government raised basic customs duty on various categories of steel, he said. In June, the government raised basic customs duty (BCD) on some long and flat steel products by 2.5 per cent. Import duty on flat steel products was increased to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent, while for long steel products it was raised to 7.5 per cent from 5 per cent.
During June itself, India slapped anti-dumping duty of up to $316 per tonne on imports of certain steel products from three countries, including China, to protect domestic producers from below-cost inbound shipments. In 2014-15, imports grew 71 per cent to 9.32 MT compared to 2013-14, making India a net importer of the metal.
