[Ferro-Alloys.com] India's secondary steel producers have opposed the petition for imposing a 25-percent duty on imports of steel items filed by the Indian Steel Association of primary steel producers, a statement released by consortium of steel end users said.

India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is responsible for carrying out investigations under the Customs Tariff Act and recommend the rate of anti-dumping duty on the identified articles to safeguard the domestic industry.

Stating the 25-percent levy as unjustified and would cause serious disruption, the statement pointed out that the total imports were merely 4.68 percent of total production in the country as of May 2019.

"Imposition of safeguard duty on steel imports will make steel costlier and only a few steel mills will be in a dominating position, creating a monopolistic market in India, which will give rise to agitation amongst the steel users, traders, SMEs and MSMEs," said Vaibhav Purohit, spokesperson for the consortium of secondary steel producers, Thursday.

Domestic primary steel prices prevailing in India have been substantially higher while demand for steel is low due to various factors such as elections and liquidity issues in the market leading to stress.

Indian engineering companies, which are largely in the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) segment, require several steel items in various sizes or grades that are not available from the domestic primary manufacturers in a timely manner, the statement said.（Xinhua）

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