India to slap anti-dumping duties on POSCO steel

By Jhoo Dong-chan

India is pushing to impose anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled steel products it imports from Korea as well as five other countries, including China and Japan, another safeguard measure to protect the domestic industry in line with moves by the U.S.

According to India’s Ministry of Finance, Tuesday, it will impose a restrictive duty on imports of “hot-rolled flat alloy or non-alloy steel” from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. The anti-dumping duty was imposed on the recommendation of the Directorate General of Anti Dumping, a branch of India’s Commerce Ministry.

“It shall be effective for a period not exceeding six months unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier, and shall be paid in Indian currency,” said an official at the Department of Revenue, a branch under India’s Ministry of Finance.

Under the recommendation, the Indian government would designate the minimum import price of $474 per ton on imports of hot-rolled flat alloy or non-alloy steel of up to 2,100 millimeters wide and up to 25 millimeters thick.

Another category, hot-rolled flat steel sheets and plates up to 4,950 millimeters wide and up to 150 millimeters thick imported by India, would draw an anti-dumping duty of $557 per ton.

“The domestic industry has suffered material injury on account of imports from the designated countries that are below normal value,” an official claimed.

Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO is expected to be subjected to India’s duty policy. Fellow Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel halted its steel exports to India last October.

A POSCO official said that the effects will be minor.

“The $474 duty is not new, and applies equally to all hot-rolled steel that India imports,” said an official.

“And POSCO does not export a great amount of thick hot-rolled flat steel sheets of widths up to 4,950 millimeters with a thicknesses up to 150 millimeters to India. I don’t think it will deal a severe blow to POSCO’s business operations in India.”

Last week, the U.S. government decided to levy duties on POSCO's hot-rolled steel products at 57.04 percent, an aim the company claimed is to guard domestic players and the job market from cheap imports.