Anti-dumping duty will aid steel industry

Yielding to the demands of the domestic steel companies, the government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of certain categories of steel products from countries including China, US, Korea and EU. 

The protectionist stance from the Indian government comes as a respite to the struggling steel industry which is blogged by reduced demand on the back of sluggishness in the economic and as well as dumping of cheaper steel products from foreign countries. 

The latest duty is being imposed on cold-rolled flat stainless steel products, effective until December 2020. Earlier an anti-dumping duty was imposed on certain steel wire rods from China for five years. 

The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) had found that certain steel products exported to India from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, US and the European Union countries were below-cost value and hurting domestic steelmakers. 

A group steel companies including Essar Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL had jointly initiated an inquiry before DGAD for anti-dumping investigation on these imports and had requested for a levy of duty on the imports from these countries. 

Following the news, steel stocks surged on the exchange. The stock of SAIL was trading at Rs. 72.70 per share, higher by 8.59%; Tata Steel was trading at Rs. 729.20 per share, up by 1.69%, while JSW Steel was at Rs. 261.90, up 0.81%, during early trade on Thursday.