Anti-dumping duty slapped on some steel goods from China, South Korea

An anti-dumping duty of the difference between the landed value of the steel products and $594 per tonne will be levied, a Finance Ministry notification said. The government had previously imposed anti-dumping duty on import of hot-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.

That duty, valid for six months, was the difference between the landed value and the respective prescribed value which is $474 per tonne and $557 per tonne. The anti-dumping duty imposed on cold-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, Japan, South Korea and Ukraine too would be for six months. The anti-dumping duty was imposed on recommendation of the Directorate General of Anti Dumping (DGAD), an arm of Commerce Ministry.

The DGAD has come to the provisional conclusion that “the subject goods have been exported to India from the subject countries below normal value (and) the domestic industry has suffered material injury on account of subject imports from the subject countries,” the notification said. Also, the injury has been caused by the dumped imports of the subject goods from the subject countries, the notification quoted the findings as saying. Meanwhile, the net debt of the top 30 steel companies globally has touched a record high of over $150 billion, according to consultancy firm Ernst and Young (E&Y). The global consultancy’s report also reveals that major part of this (debt) is with companies in India, China and Brazil. Debt in the steel sector rose significantly between 2008 and 2013 before experiencing some relief in 2014, E&Y said in a statement.

The relief was short-lived, however, as the pressure of excess capacity, rapidly cooling demand in China and the stronger position of steel customers drove a 30 per cent decline in steel prices in 2015, it added. The global steel sector continues to face headwinds, E&Y India’s Leader (Metals and Mining) Anjani Agrawal said.

“Lower prices and weaker demand over the last year has prevented steelmakers from reaping the benefits of ongoing debt restructuring and cost and efficiency measures,” he added. On India, he said the government has been supportive of the industry through MIP and anti-dumping measures as well as enabling financial restructuring through the banking industry. These measures should help the industry sustain itself in the current difficult times until demand picks up strongly in India, driven by investments in infrastructure, Agrawal explained.

“Brazil, India and China, in particular, have accumulated more debt as a result of decreased demand, new capacity spend and excess production respectively,” he said. Meanwhile, Russia and Japan have reduced debt due to increased exports on the back of the depreciation of their domestic currencies. Similarly, the US and Europe have improved their debt situation by decreasing capital spend. 

Governments around the world are working hard to find regional solutions to support their domestic steel industry, he added.