User industry 'shocked' over govt anti-dumping probe on steel

Steel users today took objection to the Commerce Ministry's move to review anti-dumping duty on certain stainless steel products, saying the duty has adversely impacted the domestic industry.

Steel users on Wednesday took objection to the Commerce Ministry's move to review anti-dumping duty on certain stainless steel products, saying the duty has adversely impacted the domestic industry.

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"We are shocked... the investigations (are) based on misleading facts submitted by a large domestic manufacturer," Process Plant and Machinery Association of India (PPMAI) Secretary VP Ramachandran said.

PPMAI members provide products and services to industries such as oil and gas, fertilisers and chemicals.

He said certain steel products used by heavy equipment manufacturers; the automotive industry, infrastructure and other sectors are not manufactured in India and thus need to be imported.

The ministry has started a probe into the allegations made by JSL Ltd (formerly Jindal Stainless) that some importers were circumventing anti-dumping duty on certain types of steel used in industries like consumer durables, auto and metro rail coach manufacture.

In February, the revenue department had imposed anti-dumping duty of up to $1,646 per tonne on imported cold-rolled flat products of stainless steel from the US, China, South Africa, France, Spain and a few other countries.

He said anti-dumping duty has adversely affected the business plans of hundreds of downstream process plant manufacturers.