Stainless steel association wants a level playing field

Making representation to the highest authorities, including the Finance Ministry and Ministry of Steel, ISSDA has made its plea ahead of the upcoming Union Budget in order to enable a level playing field for Indian manufacturers and MSMEs.

KK Pahuja, president of the ISSDA commented, "Making strides across new applications, stainless steel has proved to be essential for the development and growth of our country. In alignment with the National Steel Policy 2017 vision, overall stainless steel capacity of the country needs to be increased from 6Mt/yr to 9Mt/yr by the year 2030. Sadly, the total capacity utilization for the domestic stainless steel industry stands at a mere 60%, under pressure of imports. Restoring countervailing duty against subsidized and dumped stainless steel imports from China and Indonesia will create a healthy environment for Indian producers, especially MSMEs. This will not only support the Make in India vision, but will also help attract investment confidence to generate new employment as well as increase revenue. Additionally, a favourable balance of trade will conserve foreign reserves.”

Stainless steel imports from these two countries into India during H1 FY22 increased by 172%. Moreover, Indonesia is set to replace India as the second largest stainless-steel producer in the world.

These countries have been proved to provide non-WTO-complying subsidies and most stainless-steel producing nations have imposed anti-dumping/subsidy and safeguard mechanisms against China and Indonesia. China has imposed ADD measures on Indonesia, and the European Commission last month disclosed up to 34.3% CVD on stainless steel CR flat products from Indonesia. This will further nudge these countries to dump more in India as most of the stainless steel producing countries have protected their domestic producers. India is the only attractive and open market available to China and Indonesia.

The Indian stainless-steel supply ecosystem has a unique structure: 30% of producers are operating in the MSME sector. The domestic industry has sufficient capacity to meet demand, however, unwarranted imports are preventing the industry from realizing its true potential. The ISSDA believes that government policy support is necessary not only to reclaim India’s position as the world’s second largest stainless-steel producer, but also to enable the next phase of industry growth in line with Prime Minister’s vision of Atamanirbhar India.