India to hold more talks over import curbs on steelmaking raw material

India will hold wider consultations with steel companies before imposing curbs on imports of low ash metallurgical coke, used in steelmaking, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

India, the world's second-biggest producer of crude steel, in April proposed a country-specific import quota to cap annual imports of low ash metallurgical coke, also known as met coke, at 2.85 million metric tons for one year.

The April proposal from the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) aimed to protect the country's local met coke producers from rising imports, which have risen by more than 61% over the last four years.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, which comes under the federal trade ministry, has asked the DGTR to begin consultations to seek opinions from all stakeholders, including steel mills and domestic met coke producers, the source said, who did not wish to be named as deliberations were not public.

The source added the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, which asked the DGTR to start the consultation process nearly two weeks ago, has not set a timeline for it to be completed, the source said.

The federal trade ministry and the DGTR did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Leading steelmakers, such as JSW Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel have opposed the import curbs proposed by the DGTR.

The Indian Steel Association, a producers' body, on Aug. 1 petitioned the trade ministry to relax the DGTR's proposed import restrictions on met coke that is said would limit steel mills' capacity expansion.

In June, India's federal steel ministry also wrote to the trade ministry to make clear it did not favour limits on imports of met coke, citing risks to domestic output.

Two other sources with knowledge of the matter said the DGTR was also considering options such as a floor price, or minimum import price, for met coke imports.