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With Truck & Bus Radial (TBR) tyre imports increasing in FY16, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) has asked the Centre to take urgent measures to halt the sharp surge in imports and dumping.
ATMA said that TBR tyre imports went up from 7.8 lakh units in FY15 to 12.8 lakh units in FY16, registering an increase of 64 per cent. In the last two year, TBR tyre imports went up by 2.5 times. From an average per month import of about 40,000 units in FY14 and 65,000 units in FY15, importscrossed the one lakh units per month mark in FY16.
Most of the imports are from China, as TBR export prices from that country are significantly lower than the prices of such tyres in Chinese domestic market and prices of similar exports originating from Thailand and South Korea. The per unit import price from China in many cases is less than the cost of raw materials in India.
KM Mammen, Chairman, ATMA, said that tyre manufacturers in India have made major investments in greenfield and brownfield projects for manufacturing radial tyres. However, indiscriminate import and dumping of cheap tyres from China are queering the pitch for domestic manufacturers.
The Indian tyre industry’s position is further vulnerable with the US imposing severe dumping and anti-subsidy duties against Chinese imports to the US. Slowdown in the domestic Chinese economy and demand for automobiles and tyres is said to be cause for dumping of tyres in India as it offers a ready and growing market with very low import duties in products such as tyres, he added.
According to ATMA, the industry petition seeking imposition of anti-dumping duty on dumped imports from China is pending with the Commerce Ministry.
The domestic tyre industry has invested about ₹35,000 crore in capacity expansion in the last few years.
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