KOLKATA | Nov 29, 2016: Indian Ferro Alloys Producers’ Association (IFAPA) has come out strongly against the government decision to impose anti dumping duty on low ash metallurgical coke imported from China and Australia. Imposition of drastic duty on low ash low phos met coke could severely affect the ferro alloys industry which is located in rural and tribal areas and employs more than one lakh people, the association has said.
While the government imposed a duty of $25.2 per tonne on low ash coke from China it imposed a duty of $16.69 per tonne on similar coke from Australia as per a notification issued by the department of revenue, under the union finance ministry on November 25, 2016. This was based on recommendations from Director General Anti Dumping (DGAD) on October 20, 2016 on investigation of low ash metallurgical coke imported from China and Australia based on petition filed by the domestic Metcoke Manufacturers’ Association.
"The decision has come at a time when the cost of imported coke has gone up to more than US$ 250 per tonne and price of coking coal is ruling at $180 per tonne. This has made it impossible for the ferro alloys industry to bear additional imposition of anti dumping duty," a statement issued by the IFAPA said on Tuesday.
The statement said a power intensive sector like ferro alloys is already rendered uncompetitive due to the high cost of electricity. The industry is also suffering from an increase in import duty on coke to 5% from 2.5% earlier introduced in the budget 2016-17. IFAPA said the industry is seeking removal of low ash low phos met coke from the scope of anti dumping duty and removal of customs duty from 5% at present to zero, adding the imposition of anti dumping duty is a major setback for "Make in India" campaign.
(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)