The All India Stainless Steel Pipes & Tubes Manufacturers Association expressed optimism towards the announcement of revocation of anti-dumping duty (ADD) and countervailing duty (CVD) on the import of stainless (SS) steel raw material for the downstream industries.
The association said the move will revive the domestic SS downstream industries as they cannot rely on the monopolies alone for SS requirements since demand exceeds supply in India. These industries rely on timely delivery at internationally benchmarked prices.
Revocation of ADD and CVD has created a level playing field for the domestic SS companies that are now able to avail barrier-free raw materials. Artificial hike of SS prices can be prevented – a move required by downstream industries of finished products like pipes. India’s MSME segment engaged in finished SS products will not face issues like artificially inflated domestic raw material prices or cheaper imports of finished products.
The association said unrestricted supply of raw materials is essential for India to become self reliant for SS finished products including pipes and tubes.
However, Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA) believes that exemption of duties will hamper Indian production as it will result in high imports of SS flats from China and Indonesia, hurting domestic manufacturing. ISSDA called the waiver an ‘unintentional gift to Chinese companies’ which will hit the domestic stainless steel industry.
Jindal Stainless’ (JSL) management commented that the slashed duties on various SS products and suspension of the trade remedial measures would result in free flow of subsidised SS products in domestic market. This will be a major setback for the Indian SS markets that are already operating at 60pc capacity. MSMEs cater to 35pc of the domestic demand, and are likely to be worst hit, the company said. JSL urged the government to review this decision.