The Hindu Business Line : Steel wire makers seek classification in customs tariff

STEEL Wire Manufacturers Association of India (SWMAI), the apex national body of steel wire and wire rope industry, has urged the Centre to classify separately steel wire rods and steel wires in the Customs tariff schedule.

Citing technological justifications for its plea, the association said that the process of making steel wires from steel wire rods, involves significant changes in the mechanical properties of the final products, resulting in substantial value addition.

It pointed out that there is positive prospect of growth of the steel wire sector at 5-7 per cent per annum, in view of the high-end critical applications of steel wires in automobiles, pre-stressed concrete stranded wires in atomic reactors, wire ropes and cables, automobile components and springs.

In the last Budget, the Government had distinguished steel wires from wire rods by bringing the wire drawing activity from wire rod, under the purview of `Manufacture', by inserting a section note to this effect in Section XV.

While welcoming this growth-oriented decision, the association has regretted that in chapter 72 of customs tariff, steel wires, the finished products continue to be classified with semi-finished and raw steel items.

It also requested that this anomalous status of classifying finished products, semi-finished steel and raw steel under the same classification, should immediately be done away with, to enable the steel wire industry to compete globally.

It suggested that the steel wire industry should be protected. A Customs duty of 20 per cent should be imposed on wires of iron or non-alloy metal. It recommended the basic customs duty of 20 per cent on stranded steel wires should also be maintained.

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