The central government on Tuesday imposed duty on aluminium products imported from China to shield Indian manufacturers from dumping by that country.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) slapped 21% and 35% duty respectively on imports of aluminium flat-rolled products and foils from China. The duty has been imposed till October 8, a notification by the board said.
Analysts said that companies such as Hindalco and Balco will gain from this as they produce mainly rolled products.
An official from a private aluminium maker said, “This move will definitely help us get some share of the market back.”
However, a senior official from the state-owned Nalco said, “We had asked the government to impose a 15% import duty on primary metal also which they haven’t. Out of our total aluminium production, only 10% is rolled products, therefore, this move is of not much help to us.”
“Increased imports of aluminium flat-rolled products and aluminium foil into India from the People’s Republic of China had caused and threatened to cause market disruption to domestic industry and it necessitates the imposition of provisional safeguard duty on imports from China,” the CBEC notification said.
An analyst with a domestic research firm said, “The domestic aluminium market is not in a good shape and this will help them.”
According to Crisil Research report released in September 2008, India produced 12,34,542 tonnes of aluminium in 2007-08 as against 11,50,072 tonnes in 2006-07. The country imported another 3,13,012 tonnes in 2007-08. Total consumption in India in 2007-08 stood at 12,61,405 tonnes.
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