Capital goods makers up against anti dumping duty on stainless steel

The Capital Goods manufacturing companies who export Process Plants from the country have expressed shock at frequent Anti Dumping investigations initiated by ministry of commerce against imports of stainless steel hot rolled sheets and coils in grade 304 as well as starting a new mid term review on cold rolled products originating from European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, USA, China and South Africa.

"We are shocked that the Commerce Ministry has once again started Anti Dumping investigation and mid term reviews based on misleading facts submitted by a large domestic manufacturer namely Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) without discussing the matter with the critical segment of end users of specific grade and size stainless steel including oil and gas,desalination, heavy equipment manufacturers, nuclear power, automotive, stainless steel pipe ,infrastructure and petrochemical industry" Mr V K Togadia, President , All India Stainless Steel Industries Association (AISSIA).

"Unfortunately the specific required dimensions of above 1250mm width in all grades of stainless steel are required for design safety, quality and these dimensions are not available in the domestic market nor manufactured by the complainant JSL. The manufacturer and end users have been sourcing the stainless steel Hot and cold rolled products from global manufacturers including Outokumpu, Arcelor Mittal and Acerinox since many years" says Mr P V Sundaram, Vice President, GEI Industries Ltd.

"The scope of HR products put under investigation by the Ministry of Commerce are presently not manufactured by sole petitioner Jindal Stainless Ltd as it has manufacturing capacity up to width of 1250mm and cannot offer widths beyond 1250mm in HR under any conditions. It is technically impossible for them to manufacture higher widths and the same has been notified by the Ministry of Commerce in the stainless steel CR case notification released in November 2009. The products which are beyond 1250mm in width should not be included in the investigations as these products are not being manufactured in India and do not affect the domestic manufacturer . " Said Mr Prithviraj Hegde, M.D., Crystal Engg, Mumbai.

" Within three months of anti dumping notification by the government, there is a mid term review initiated by DGAD again on behest of Jindals based on illogical submission by Jindals. The 1250mm width material has a tolerance levels of maximum 6mm but Jindals are advising and misleading DGAD to impose 50mm as the tolerance to suffocate the stainless wares export industry. This tolerance may be a local Jindal Haryana standard but surely not an international standard and we wonder what DGAD is trying to do by initiating such reviews which will kill the export markets for the thousands of end users in SME segment and protect the interests of Jindals. Can DGAD not consult Engineers India Limited before playing with the fortunes of SMEs ?" said Mr Ramachandran, Secretary, Process plant Machinery Association of India (PPMAI)

"Views and suggestions of industry and end users of specific grade and size stainless steel not produced in the country should be incorporated during investigation to defend the imposition of duties on products beyond 1250mm and other special grades which are not manufactured by the Domestic Industry. This will eliminate un-necessary harrassment to the engineering goods exporting companies" said Mr N B Kulkarni from Toyo Engineering.

Source : Equity Bulls

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