Steel demand likely to improve in coming months: Birender Singh
20 Feb 2017 10:53 PM IST
Steel demand is expected to improve in coming months on the back of increased spending on infrastructure and long-term government policies, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has said.
"The steel demand has grown 3.3 per cent during April -December 2016. This is expected to improve in the coming months, due to long-term government policies and increase in infrastructure spend," the minister said.
India has been a bright spot in global economy, he said, adding that World Steel Association has predicted the steel demand in India will grow at the rate of 5.7 per cent in 2017.
The government of India, he said, has provided extensive support to the domestic steel industry by way of various trade remedial measures in recent times, such as minimum import prices (MIP), anti-dumping and safeguard measures and quality control.
"The current scenario in the steel sector is well known, and hence the government will take all necessary measures as and when required to support the industry," the minster said.
MIP, he said, was notified as an emergency measure as other trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping rules and safeguard rules are process oriented and are time consuming in terms of implementation and impact. "However, MIP was gradually phased out as and when suitable trade remedial measures were put in place," he added. As on date, 124 out of 173 tariff lines, initially notified as MIP, are covered under anti-dumping duties in addition to the safeguard duties on Hot Rolled Coils and Plates.
MIP has also been withdrawn on February 4, he added.
Meanwhile, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) Managing Director and CEO Ravi Uppal said the company would commission the blast furnace at Angul, Odisha by early April to add an additional 3.5 million tonnes capacity. Besides, the company will continue with its assets sale strategy to improve its financial health and retire a huge Rs 45,600-crore debt, he added. JSPL managed to narrow down its consolidated net loss for the third quarter by 48 per cent to Rs 455 crore.
"We are heading towards a turnaround. We will commission the blast furnace at Angul, Odisha by next month or early April to add an additional 3.5 million tonnes capacity," Uppal said. PTI
Govt extends anti-dumping duty on steel pipes, tubes from China for five years
India has extended anti-dumping duty on import of certain steel products from China for five years with an aim to protect domestic players from the cheap shipments.
Earlier in May 2016, the revenue department had imposed provisional anti-dumping duty on 'seamless tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of iron, alloy or non-alloy steel, whether hot finished or cold drawn or cold rolled of an external diameter not exceeding 355.6 mm'.
The provisional levy was imposed on recommendation of Directorate General of Anti-Dumping And Allied Duties (DGAD).
The DGAD in its final findings had made a case for definitive anti-dumping duty on the steel products.
Acting on the recommendations, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the revenue department has now imposed definitive anti-dumping duty.
"The anti-dumping duty...shall be effective for a period of five years from the date of imposition of provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, the May 17, 2016...," the CBEC said in a notification.
The levy has been imposed in the range of $961.33 - 1,610.67, the revenue department said.
The purpose of anti-dumping duties, in general, is to eliminate injury caused to the domestic industry by the unfair trade practices of dumping so as to re-establish a situation of open and fair competition in the market, which is in the general interest of the country.
Next Story
