The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 20, 2022
Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), representing the domestic stainless steel industry, has urged the government to restore Countervailing Duty (CVD) on imports from China and Indonesia, to ensure a level playing field for domestic manufacturers.
ISSDA has made this plea ahead of the upcoming Union Budget in order to enable a level playing field for the Indian manufacturers and MSMEs.
“In alignment with the National Steel Policy 2017 vision, overall stainless steel capacity of the country needs to be increased from 6 million tons to 9 million tons by the year 2030. Sadly, the total capacity utilisation for the domestic stainless steel industry stands at a mere 60%, under pressure of imports. Restoring Countervailing Duty (CVD) against subsidised and dumped stainless steel imports from China and Indonesia will create a healthy environment for Indian producers, especially MSMEs,” said KK Pahuja, President, ISSDA.
“This will not only support the Make in India vision, but will also help attract investment confidence to generate new employment as well as increase revenue. Additionally, favourable balance of trade will conserve foreign reserve,” Pahuja added.
The gravity of the situation can be understood from the fact that by revoking theTrade remedial measures against China and Indonesia, stainless steel imports from these two countries into India during H1 FY22 increased by 172%. Moreover, Indonesia is set to replace India as the second largest stainless-steel producer in the world.
These countries have been proved to provide non- WTO complying subsidies and most stainless-steel producing nations have imposed anti-dumping/subsidy and safeguard mechanism against China and Indonesia. Even, China has imposed ADD measures on Indonesia. In December 2021, European Commission disclosed up to 34.3% CVD on Stainless Steel CR flat products from Indonesia. This will further nudge these countries to dump more in India as most of the stainless steel producing countries have protected their domestic producers. India is the only attractive and open market available to China & Indonesia.
Indian Stainless-steel supply ecosystem has a unique structure wherein 30% producers are operating in MSME sector. The domestic industry has sufficient capacity to meet the demand, however, unwarranted imports are hindering the industry to realize its true potential. Government policy support is necessary to not only reclaim India’s position as the world’s second largest stainless-steel producer, but also enable the next phase of industry growth in line with Prime Minister’s vision of Atama nirbhar India.
