“The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)…”, according to a statement from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
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In August, the government had hiked import duty on base metals, including iron and steel, by 2.5 per cent, in a move aimed at helping domestic players battle out cheap Chinese imports after the currency devaluation by China.
The anti-dumping duty-in the range of 5.3-57.4%-has been levied on imports of cold rolled flat products of stainless steel.
China’s duties were set at 57.39 percent; the USA at 9.47 percent; South Africa at 12.34-36.91 percent; South Korea at 5.39-13.44 percent; Thailand at 5.39 percent; and the European Union at 29.41-52.56 percent.
India has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to about 57% on imports of cold-rolled steel from China, South Korea, the EU, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA, in a bid to protect a domestic industry that is being hit hard by a surge in imports.
This is the third time this year that the government imposed such a duty to safeguard companies that are reeling under huge debts and falls in domestic market share.
A review with regard to the imports of cold rolled flat products of stainless steel was initiated in April 2014, the notification noted.
“We do not see much benefit for most large primary steel producers from this duty imposition as most producers are not into stainless steel production in any big way”, said an analyst with a local brokerage.
“The performance of the domestic industry has deteriorated in the current injury period because of the impact of the dumped imports from the subject country and diversion of imports to product ranges outside the scope of the product under consideration”, it added.
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“The dumping is likely to continue and the performance of the domestic industry is likely to deteriorate, should the present anti-dumping duty be revoked, and has recommended the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on imports…”, the finding said. The width limit should be removed, ” said a Jindal Stainless spokesperson.
