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The domestic spinning industry has asked the government to do away with the anti-dumping duty on viscose staple fibre (VSF), imposed in 2010 on shipments from China and Indonesia.
The Indian Spinners Association (ISA) has alleged that Grasim Industries, the prime manufacturer of VSF in India, is selling the raw material at prices much higher than global rates, hurting the domestic textile industry.
“We are paying an ex-mill price of $2.15 plus 12.5 per cent excise duty against an import price of $1.85 per kg (c.i.f.). It is unfortunate that Grasim itself is supplying the fibre to our competitors in other countries at an ex-mill price of $1.80 per kg,” ISA said in separate representations to Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman Najeeb Shah.
Grasim did not respond to queries sent by this newspaper on the matter.
The anti-dumping duty, which is imposed in addition to customs duty, is levied when domestic producers are hit by cheap imports that are dumped in the country at prices lower than what foreign suppliers charge in their home market.
DGAD review The Directorate-General of Anti Dumping (DGAD) is at present carrying out a sunset review of duties imposed on VSF in 2010 to examine if there is a case for their extension. The duties cannot be extended beyond July this year in the absence of a recommendation by the DGAD.
“There is no justification behind the extension of the anti-dumping duties as the domestic producer of VSF is doing brisk business, and it is the users that are suffering. With textile exporters from India already struggling to maintain their share in the global market, high input costs are pulling them down further,” SK Khandelia, President, ISA, told BusinessLine .
Khandelia said that there may have been a short period in 2010 when all industries were suffering from the global slowdown, but things have changed since then.
In India, VSF is a major input in the manufacture of fabrics made of poly-viscose and 100 per cent viscose yarn. There are about 150 spinning mills in the country, with about five million spindles.
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