Government slaps anti-dumping duty on stainless steel

57% levy for cold-rolled flat products from China; 53% on those from EU

The Centre on Friday imposed  an anti-dumping duty ranging from five to 57 per cent on import of cold-rolled flat products of stainless steel for  five years.

In a notification, the Central Board of Excise and Customs said the duty has been imposed on China, South Korea, the US, South Africa, Thailand and Taiwan, besides the European Union.

A review with regard to the imports of cold rolled flat products of stainless steel was initiated in April 2014, the notification noted.

The highest duty has been levied on steel imports from China at 57.39 per cent, followed by the European Union at 52.56 per cent. Imports from Thailand will have the least duty imposition of 4.58 per cent.

China, the world's largest consumer and producer of the commodity, has been dumping various grades and varieties of steel across the globe on the back of surplus supply. This might be the why China attracted the highest anti-dumping duty.

The government's decision comes in the wake of rising incidence of dumping hampering the performance of domestic industry and with steel prices on a decline.

The total production of stainless steel in India stood at three million tonnes (mt) in 2013-14 from 0.5 mt in 1994-95, according to the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association.

“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. Among listed companies, Jindal Stainless and Steel Authority of India has presence in the stainless steel segment.

Since the past few months, the government has taken several steps to curtail cheap steel imports into India. It has already levied customs duty on select steel products; in September, it imposed 20 per cent provisional safeguard duty on a specific hot-rolled imported steel product, for which domestic steel producers are seeking an extension.