India's renewed Anti-dumping flat-steel duties 'regrettable' - JISF

Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) chairman Eiji Hashimoto expressed his regret on September 15 that India's commerce ministry had decided to ask the country's Ministry of Finance to continue applying anti-dumping duties on Japanese hot-rolled coils (HRC), plates, and cold-rolled coils (CRC) and sheets.

Describing the decision as "unjust and extremely regrettable", in a JISF statement Hashimoto pointed out that the Japanese steel industry had said the revocation of the AD measures was unlikely to lead to any continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry in India. The commerce ministry had announced the conclusion of its sunset review on September 14.

A JISF official explained that the steel products targeted by India imported from Japan by Indian buyers are not of the same quality available in the Indian market and so won't compete with local equivalents.

The AD duties on HRC and plates have been in place for five years since August 8, 2016, and are levied on products imported from Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia. They penalize hot coil priced under $489/tonne, and for plates under $478/t (excluding some suppliers in South Korea), as reported.

The AD measures for CRC and CR sheets took effect from August 17, 2016, for five years for imports from Japan, China, South Korea and Ukraine.

The HS codes for HRC and plates are 7208, 7211, 8225 and 7226, and for CRC and CR sheets 7209, 7211, 7225 and 7226, according to JISF.

Ahead of the penalty period expiring in August, India's Ministry of Finance had announced at the end of June that the existing measures would be extended until December 15 as India's COVID-19 outbreak had delayed the sunset review investigations, the JISF official noted.

He added that the finance ministry's final decision will be made before December 15 and that until then, the Japanese steel industry would cautiously study these cases and consider a proper course of action.

During January-July this year, Japan exported 179,605 tonnes of HRC and plates to India under the listed HS codes, up 32.2% on year, according to the latest data from Trade Statistics of Japan. Exports of Japanese CRCs and sheets reached 156,482 tonnes over the seven months, up 56.4% on year.

Written by Yoko Manabe, yoko.manabe@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.