Pointing to the extremely challenging business environment and stabilising steel industry, the Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birendra Singh has said that the industry must prepare itself to face global competition as protectionist measures like minimum import price (MIP) and anti dumping cannot be continued for an indefinite period.
The minister said that steel industry is stabilising and if everything is stabilised then government may have to think of which are the components that could again be put in the MIP list. Further, the Steel minister said that such measures taken by government have remained helpful to the steel industry which has suffered on account of glut in the global market. He also noted improvement in import and export statistics of steel, stating that steel import has come down to 34 per cent and export is 58 per cent higher as compared to last year.
On MIP measure which gives relief to domestic steel producers against cheap in-bound shipments, He said that imposition of MIP on steel products has also reduced to 19 from 173. Steel makers had urged the government to extend MIP on certain products, saying its imposition has marginally improved the industry's viability after a long period of subdued prices.