To protect domestic industries from cheap imports, the government has extended the minimum import price (MIP) on 66 steel products for a period of two months as against 173 items earlier.
The MIP ranges between $341-752 per tonne. "MIP for 66 (steel products) is extended till October 4 this year," Director General of Foreign Trade Anup Wadhawan said in a notification on Thursday. The steel industry had been demanding for extension of the MIP.
When asked why the government has reduced the number of products, an official said: "We felt that only these 66 products require protection. The commerce ministry is already investigating dumping of certain steel products." The 66 products include semi-finished products of iron or non-alloyed steel, flat-rolled products of different widths, bars and rods. To guard domestic steel producers against cheap in-bound shipments, the government in February had imposed MIP, ranging between $341-752 per tonne, on 173 steel products for a period of six months.
On ingots and billets, blooms and slabs, the MIP reads $362, $352 and $341 per tonne, respectively. On flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel of a width of 600 mm or more, clad plated or coated, the minimum prices will be $643 and $752 per tonne on different items. Similarly, bars and rods, hot-rolled in irregularly wound coils of iron or non-alloy steel, the figure stood at $449 per tonne and $451 per tonne on different products.
