Govt extends MIP on 66 steel products for a period of two months

The government has decided to extend the Minimum Import Price (MIP) regime on 66 steel products for a period of two months. The MIP regime introduced for a six-month period in February 2016 which was due to end on August 5, will now be applicable on these items till October 4, 2016. The 66 steel products include flat-rolled non-allow steel and plastic, zinc or lead-coated steel among others.

Government in February had imposed MIP, ranging between $ 341 to $752 per tonne on 173 steel products for a period of six months, in order to guard domestic steel producers against cheap in-bound shipments. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade in its latest notification said that 66 out of 173 products will continue to remain in MIP regime for two more months.

The move to extend MIP comes after the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping recently recommended a tax of up to $594 per tonne on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products, specifically from China, Japan, South Korea and Ukraine. Also, the Directorate General of Safeguards proposed a safeguard duty on about 107 steel products for two-and-a-half years that were imported from China, Ukraine and Indonesia. The domestic steel majors JSW, Essar Steel and Tate steel too had pitched for extension of this barrier for a further six months to curb cheap imports.

The government has however not changed the MIP price range of $341 to $752 per tonne, on ingots and billets, blooms and slabs, the MIP stands at $362, $352 and $341 per tonne, respectively. On flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel of a width of 600 mm or more, clad plated or coated, the minimum prices will be $ 643 and $ 752 per tonne on different items. Similarly, bars and rods, hot-rolled in irregularly wound coils of iron or non-alloy steel, the figure stood at $ 449 per tonne and $ 451 per tonne on different products.