Steel industry opposes duty on met coke import

01 November 2016

The domestic steel industry has petitioned the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) against the move to impose anti-dumping duties on imports of low-ash met coke from Australia and China, saying that such an impost would result in price increases of R750-1,500 per tonne for finished steel products.

Stating that the percentage of met coke in the total cost of crude steel is 40-50%, the Indian Steel Association (ISA), in a letter to Nipendra Mishra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, has said domestic coke suppliers are unable to supply met coke with required specification for larger-size blast furnances.

“The steel industry in India, especially the larger blast furnances with capacity of more than 1,200 cubic metres, necessarily require met coke with low ash content and moisture content of less than 5%. This is required to ensure that the blast furnaces run efficiently as any variation in coke quality results in instability in thermal profile which takes a long time to stabilise,” ISA said, adding that the use of domestic met coke has an adverse impact on the steel production and blast furnace productivity.

Fearing that their business would be in jeopardy due to cheaper imports, domestic met coke producers including Gujarat NRE Coke, had earlier filed an application with the directorate general of anti-dumping (DGAD). Met coke prices rose sharply in recent times from $121 Per tonne in January to $285 per tonne now.

“The imposition of anti-dumping duty will accentuate the already worsened situation by increasing the prices of inputs through the sales realisations have remained more or less flattish. We urge the government no anti-dumping duty on met coke should be levied for use in steel sector in India,” said the steel makers’ body.

Source – FE