Large Indian domestic steel companies are preparing to apply to India's Directorate General for Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) seeking a mid-term review of the antidumping duties levied on imported hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC), officials at two private sector Indian steel companies said on Friday, March 23.
A petition seeking such a mid-term review is likely to be filed before the DGAD on the grounds that production costs of domestic steel mills have increased significantly since the antidumping levy was imposed in August 2017 and has increased the differential between local HRC and CRC prices and landed prices of imported HRC/CRC inclusive of the current rate of antidumping duty, the officials said, declining to go on record on the grounds that it has not yet been confirmed that the companies will file the petition.
The officials said that the proposed petition also wants the DGAD to review the expected changes in market dynamics after the imposition of tariffs on imported steel by the US administration, as major steel producing and exporting countries would shift market focus and India would be more vulnerable to import competition and dumping which current antidumping rates would be insufficient to check.
Last year, the DGAD increased the reference price for HRC at $489/mt, increasing it from the $474/mt fixed in the previous year. In the case of CRC, the reference price was fixed at $576/mt, lower than $594/mt in the previous year.
If the landed price of imported HRC/CRC is lower than the reference price, it would trigger an antidumping duty at the rate of 12.5 percent.