Tyre import up in Apr-May, ATMA calls for anti-dumping duty.

NEW DELHI: Truck and bus radial tyres (TBR) import surged 57 per cent while that of radial car tyres by 20 per cent in the first two months of 2016-17 fiscal, prompting industry body ATMA to ask the government to impose anti-dumping duty on import from China.

In April-May period of this fiscal, 2.8 lakh TBR tyres have landed in India compared with over 1.8 lakh in the corresponding period a year ago.

In May alone, import of TBRs reached 1.5 lakh units which is almost 40 per cent of the replacement demand of TBR tyres in India per month, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) said in a statement.

Dumping of TBR tyres at such a large scale is also adversely affecting the interests of rubber growers in India, ATMA said, adding that it has written to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for quickening the process of imposition of anti-dumping duty on import of TBR tyre imports from China.

"As the truck and bus tyre segment is the single largest category, accounting for over 55 per cent of industry turnover, the dumping of imports is having a serious and adverse impact on the domestic industry," it added.

ATMA Chairman K M Mammen said, "there has been no let up in dumping of tyres from China. Such indiscriminate import and dumping is hurting capacity utilisaton levels in the industry which have come down significantly over the last two years."

ATMA further said China dominates as the source country and its share in import of TBR in India has gone up to an unprecedented 95 per cent in 2016-17, up from 90 per cent in 2015-16, 70 per cent in 2014-15 and 40 per cent in 2013-14.

"The per unit import price from China is even less than the cost of raw materials that go into the making of the tyres," ATMA claimed.

Tyre manufacturers in India have made major investments to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore towards creating new capacities for manufacturing of state-of-the-art TBR tyres in view of rising radialisation, said Mammen.

"But indiscriminate import and dumping of cheap tyres from China are seriously undermining domestic manufacturing," he added.

The industry body said India's position as a target country by China has become further vulnerable with the US imposing severe dumping and anti-subsidy duties against Chinese imports to the USA.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com