The Hindu Business Line : Cold-rolling steel plants seek export duty waiver

New Delhi, Aug. 2 The Cold Rolled Steel Manufacturers’ Association of India has informed the Steel Ministry that there is excess capacity in the cold-rolling industry and urged the Government to exempt cold-rolled value-added products from export duty.

In a letter to the Minister of Steel, the association said that during the April-June quarter, import of cold-rolled products increased by 65 per cent owing to a shortage of hot-rolled coils in the country.

The steel body stated that allowing duty-free export of cold-rolled steel products would lead to higher capacity utilisation which, in turn, would generate employment in the country.

This is necessary because the price of hot-rolled coils, the primary raw material for cold rollers, has gone up from Rs 29,000 per tonne in January to Rs 46,000 in July, leading to lower capacity utilisation in the cold-rolling plants, the association said in its letter.

Pointing out that while China has imposed 15 per cent export duty on hot-rolled steel it has not withdrawn the incentives on export of cold-rolled products, the association urged the Government to adopt a similar policy in India also.

The association’s Executive Director, Mr S.C. Mathur, said some of the cold-rollers were already utilising a portion of their excess capacity for export production based on imported raw materials.

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