Steel ministry has put the proposal for hike in import duty on steel items to 10% from the current level of 5% in front of the finance ministry (FinMin) to protect the domestic industry against cheap shipments from overseas, which is affecting the business of companies like Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Tata.
The proposal, if accepted by the finance ministry, would help boost domestic demand for the commodity produced by companies like SAIL, RINL, Tata Steel, Essar, JSW and Ispat.
``If 10% duty is levied, imports would become costlier and the consuming industry would prefer procuring the commodity from us``, an official of a steel company said.
However, the secondary steel makers, who cater to the automobile and consumer durable sectors have opposed to this proposal of increasing import tariff, saying the commodity is available at cheaper rate in the international market.
According to industry watchers, what could prove a possible bottleneck in enhancement of the import duty is the fact that steel imports plunged by 14% to 4.8 million tons during the April-December period of 2008-09 as against 5.6 million tons in the corresponding period of 2007.
Endorsing the industry`s concern over possible dumping of steel items from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries amid the global economic slowdown, the steel ministry had in October 2008 recommended imposition of 10% import duty on steel items. The government, however, had then levied 5% duty even as the domestic producers wanted the tariff to be as high as 15%.
Source : Myiris.com