The Hindu Business Line : ‘Monitor steel imports to safeguard domestic industry’

Kolkata, Dec. 6 Mr Sushim Banerjee, Executive Director (Commercial), SAIL, has emphasised the need for introducing import monitoring system to protect the interests of the domestic steel industry.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Steel Resurgence: Success and Survival Strategies’ here on Friday, Mr Banerjee expressed the view that such a system should be in place to assess in advance the extent of injury the imports could cause to domestic industry, more so because the anti-dumping mechanism was a time-taking process. He felt that in a couple of months, there would be a lot of steel imports as a sequel to contracts signed earlier.

The present economic slowdown, Mr Banerjee felt, also provided the industry with an opportunity to learn some lessons such as how to reduce costs and concentrate on value-added products to enhance the market share. The industry, he said, must shun undercutting in its own interest.

Stressing the need for sector-specific packages to cope with the downturn, he indicated that the Government might soon announce interest subsidy on home loans and export subsidy.

“If the GDP growth in the current year is seven per cent, the steel industry might end up with a growth figure of six per cent or so as there is plenty of latent demand for steel in the infrastructure sector,” he observed.

The present crisis in the steel industry, according to Mr Malay Sengupta, CMD, MSTC Ltd, could not be prolonged because the supply-demand mismatch this time was far better managed than in 1997.

Also, the fundamentals were far more sound now than before.

He conceded that the liquidity crisis had been a matter of concern but the steps already initiated by the Government would yield results shortly.

“The situation will take a turn for the better in the next four to five months,” Mr Sengupta observed, adding that there was no way the demand for steel in the country could decline if the economy was growing at 6.5 to seven per cent.

Mr Subrata Gupta, Managing Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, said the steel making capacity in West Bengal, if one went by the agreements signed, should rise to 37 million tonnes from the present five million tonnes.

However, much would depend on factors such as the availability of iron ore, coal (“despite having huge coal reserves in the State, the State Government is not free to allocate coal blocks without the approval of the Centre”), water, state of roads and rail infrastructure and land.

The State Government, therefore, has constituted a high-powered expert committee for iron, steel and allied industries to examine each proposal for setting up steel unit and suggest what should be done.

Mr S.S. Beriwala, Senior Vice-President of the chamber, said the survival strategies of the steel industry should include, among others, making available enough credit to the industry, stepping up infrastructure through massive Government investments, tackling the issue of raw material availability and addressing land acquisition issues.

More Stories on : Steel | Exports & Imports | Outlook

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Foreign convertible bonds buyback with rupee resources allowed

Weekly News Round-up

Cotton fabric output drops to 4-1/2 year low

RBI sees inflation rate below 7% by year-end

‘Monitor steel imports to safeguard domestic industry’

M&M opts for partial closure due to demand slowdown

Refinance amount not enough: Home finance companies

‘Markets have discounted RBI measures’

RBI signals cheaper loans

‘Hotels need to work on guest-friendly security measures’