EU imposes anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on India's steel wire export
Updated: May 09, 2013 01:31:55pm
New Delhi, May 9 (KNN) The European Union has imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of 27.8 per cent on export of stainless steel drawn wire from India saying Italian, German and Spanish producers have been hurt by Indian subsidies and price undercutting.
Indian government support and a policy of selling the wire used in batteries at below production costs meant European companies had been unable to benefit from a booming market, the European Union said in its Official Journal yesterday.
Stainless steel drawn wire is used in diverse applications ranging from battery anodes to welding wire and nails or rivets. The most common requirement in these applications is corrosion resistance.
The duties punish Indian manufacturers including KEI Industries Ltd (KEII) and Mukand Ltd (MUK) for allegedly receiving trade-distorting government aid and selling the wires in the 27-nation EU below cost, a practice known as dumping.
The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints were filed by European steel industry lobby group EUROFER in June 2012.
Prices of imports from India have remained consistently below prices of imports from other countries, said EUROFER.
Explaining his stance, Director General of EUROFER, Gordon Moffat said, “It is very urgent that the Commission restores fair competition here. A functioning market is both in the interest of the industry and the end users, particularly in a product range where our members see their downstream market being gradually taken away by unfair imports.”
He further said, “Europe has become the second largest exporter of scrap globally while there are more than 20 third countries which impose export restrictions on their domestic material. We ask the Commission to ensure a level playing field for our industry on the raw materials side, too.”
Stainless steel scrap is a major input material for stainless steel production.
Indian exporters of stainless-steel wires increased their combined share of the EU market to 17.9 per cent in the 12 months through March 2012 from 12.8 per cent in 2009, said the commission.
EU manufacturers’ share of their market fell to 62.9 per cent from 67.6 per cent over the period, according to the commission, which said employment in the bloc for stainless- steel wire production totalled 1,747 people in the 12 months through March 2012.
The EU, which launched its steel wire investigation in August last year, said producers such as Germany's Hagener Feinstahl, Spain's Inoxfil and Italy's Rodacciai suffered as Indian imports grew by almost 50 per cent between 2007 and 2011.
The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties come into force on Thursday and EU governments must now vote on whether to make the duties definitive for a period of up to five years.
Europe wants access to India's vast market of 1.3 billion potential customers, but Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel were unable to break the impasse during a meeting in Berlin in April. (KNN)
Indian government support and a policy of selling the wire used in batteries at below production costs meant European companies had been unable to benefit from a booming market, the European Union said in its Official Journal yesterday.
Stainless steel drawn wire is used in diverse applications ranging from battery anodes to welding wire and nails or rivets. The most common requirement in these applications is corrosion resistance.
The duties punish Indian manufacturers including KEI Industries Ltd (KEII) and Mukand Ltd (MUK) for allegedly receiving trade-distorting government aid and selling the wires in the 27-nation EU below cost, a practice known as dumping.
The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints were filed by European steel industry lobby group EUROFER in June 2012.
Prices of imports from India have remained consistently below prices of imports from other countries, said EUROFER.
Explaining his stance, Director General of EUROFER, Gordon Moffat said, “It is very urgent that the Commission restores fair competition here. A functioning market is both in the interest of the industry and the end users, particularly in a product range where our members see their downstream market being gradually taken away by unfair imports.”
He further said, “Europe has become the second largest exporter of scrap globally while there are more than 20 third countries which impose export restrictions on their domestic material. We ask the Commission to ensure a level playing field for our industry on the raw materials side, too.”
Stainless steel scrap is a major input material for stainless steel production.
Indian exporters of stainless-steel wires increased their combined share of the EU market to 17.9 per cent in the 12 months through March 2012 from 12.8 per cent in 2009, said the commission.
EU manufacturers’ share of their market fell to 62.9 per cent from 67.6 per cent over the period, according to the commission, which said employment in the bloc for stainless- steel wire production totalled 1,747 people in the 12 months through March 2012.
The EU, which launched its steel wire investigation in August last year, said producers such as Germany's Hagener Feinstahl, Spain's Inoxfil and Italy's Rodacciai suffered as Indian imports grew by almost 50 per cent between 2007 and 2011.
The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties come into force on Thursday and EU governments must now vote on whether to make the duties definitive for a period of up to five years.
Europe wants access to India's vast market of 1.3 billion potential customers, but Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel were unable to break the impasse during a meeting in Berlin in April. (KNN)
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