Polymer export curb unlikely despite price surge

IPF has been demanding export duty on polymers and lobbying for excise duty cut on polymers and plastic products.

In three months, polymer prices rose almost 50 per cent, hitting small and medium players, said K K Seksaria, president of IPF.

At a meeting chaired by the principal secretary of the department of chemicals and petrochemicals, C V Sampat, in Delhi today, polymer makers promised to give priority to domestic buyers.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) gave this assurance.

India was a net importer of polyethelene and therefore technically exports were illogical.

HPL exported around 60,000 ton of polyethylene of a grade not used in the domestic market and sold 280,000t locally.

RIL exported only after meeting the domestic demand.

RIL and HPL both produced and exported polyethelene and polypropylene. RIL was setting up a 900,000t per annum plant in Jamnagar this year.

On the other hand, the petrochemicals ministry was considering whether to allow the import of post industrial scrap and talking to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) about this, Seksaria said.

It could be used in non-food applications.

The finance and petrochem ministries were also discussing a mid-year correction of import duty on naphtha, re-imposed in the 2008 budget.