The Indian foundry industry has sought an “immediate temporary suspension of exports of pig iron from the country” to protect domestic foundries from the current crisis of volatility in raw material prices, an official at the Indian Foundry Association (IFA) said on Friday, April 8.
“The backbone of the foundry industry has collapsed due to the unprecedented rise in prices of raw material, namely pig iron, refractories, foundry flux and chemicals,” IFA chairman Dinesh Kumar Saksearia said.
“Hence, our demand is the temporary suspension of the export of pig iron and iron ore. Unless export duty on both these items is not raised quite high, not only the foundry industry, but the government also loses earnings through value-added products like steel and metal castings," he said.