India initiates Anti-dumping duty Probe on Stainless Steel Imports

India has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into flat-rolled stainless steel imports from China, South Korea, the EU, Japan, the US, and ten other countries.

Commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has begun the investigation after finding evidence of dumping of the products from China, Korea, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, the US, Thailand, South Africa, the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam and Malaysia.

This follows an application from the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), Jindal Stainless Limited, Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited and Jindal Stainless Steelway Limited.

The product under consideration (PUC) falls under HS code headings 7219 and 7220. The PUC includes cold rolled stainless steel of more than 1,250mm that was excluded from measures imposed in October 2017.

Excluded from the probe are hot rolled stainless steel of 304 grade and width up to 1,650mm from China, Malaysia, and South Korea, on which AD duties have been applied since 2015. Also excluded is cold rolled stainless steel of 600mm and above from China, Korea, EU, USA, Taiwan, Thailand, South Africa, except cold rolled stainless steel of more than 1,250mm. Razor blade grade steel and coin blanks under HS code 73269099 are also excluded.

The period of investigation (POI) is April 2018 to March 2019. The injury investigation period will cover the periods 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and the POI.

India has already hiked customs duty on stainless steel

Recently, India has increased import duty on imports of stainless steel finished products by 2.5% to 7.5%. The measure has been taken against the backdrop of increased stainless steel imports into India especially from ASEAN countries.

Import of stainless steel from Indonesia into India has grown nearly nine times from nearly 8,000 tonne in 2017-18 to around 67,000 tonne in 2018-19), with Chinese producers ramping up capacity in Indonesia according to Indian Stainless-Steel Development Association (ISSDA). The Chinese investments in Indonesia are backed by Chinese Government subsidies provided to expand in overseas markets. They are also subsidized generously by the Indonesian Government to attract more investment. Since there is hardly any domestic demand growth in Indonesia, all the surplus capacity thus created is being dumped in a growing market like India at an alarming rate, ISSDA pointed out.