The Minister of Steel and
Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said in a statement laid on the table of the
Rajya Sabha today that with a crude steel production capacity of about 101 MT
(Million Tonnes) in 2013-14, India produced about 87.67 MT of finished steel
with an apparent consumption of about 74.09 MT. In 2014-15 also with a
capacity of about 110 MT, India produced about 91.45 MT of finished steel with
an apparent consumption of about 76.99 MT. Thus India is capable of
meeting almost the entire domestic steel demand. India has witnessed
about 75.5% increase (year-on-year) in imports of total steel (Alloy + Non
Alloy) in 2014-15 & about 24% increase during April ’15 - Jan’16. The
jump in imports is largely on account of global steel glut. Due to this reason,
steel is being exported by China and other countries, often at below cost of
production. Further, a small quantity of high quality steel, not manufactured
locally, is also imported.
In
order to protect domestic steel sector, the Government has taken various
measures which have reduced the pace of growth of imports. While imports grew
by about 75% in the Financial Year 2014-15, compared to the Financial Year
2013-14, the import growth has slowed to about 24% in the period April’15 –
Jan’16, compared to the same period in the last Financial Year. Various steps
taken in this regard are as follows:
(i) To
ensure that only quality steel is produced or imported, Government has notified
Steel & Steel Products (Quality Control) Orders, 2012 dated 12.03.2012 and
Steel & Steel Products (Quality Control) Orders, 2015 dated 15.12.2015.
(ii) To
increase availability of Coal and Iron ore for the domestic steel industry:
(a) Notified
the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Amendment Act, 2015 on 30.03.2015 to
streamline coal block allocations.
(b) Notified
the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 on
27.03.2015 to streamline grant of Mining Leases.
(iii) The
Union Budget 2015-16 has raised peak rate of basic customs duty on both flat
and non-flat steel to 15% from 10%.
(iv) Hiked
import duty on ingots & billets, alloy steel (flat & long), stainless
steel (long) and non-alloy long products from 5 % to 7.5% and non-alloy and
other alloy flat products from 7.5% to 10%. Import Duty was further revised in
August, 2015 on flat steel from 10% to 12.5%, long steel from 7.5% to 10% and
semi-finished steel from 7.5% to 10%.
(v) In
November 2014, Government issued instruction to ensure import of rebars
strictly as per Steel Product Quality Control Order 2012, to block influx of
cheap imports of boron added rebars.
(vi) In
June, 2015, an Anti-Dumping Duty for five years on imports of certain variety
of hot-rolled flat products of stainless steel from China ($ 309 per tonne),
Korea ($ 180 per tonne) and Malaysia ($ 316 per tonne).
(vii) Imposed,
in September 2015, a provisional Safeguard Duty of 20% on hot-rolled flat
products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, in coils of a width of 600 mm or
more, for a period of 200 days.
(viii) Imposed,
vide its notification dated 05.02.2016, the Minimum Import Price (MIP)
condition on 173 steel products. Imports of items covered under this
notification will not be allowed into the country below the notified price.
Details
of Demand (as actual consumption)
(in
thousand tons)
Category : Total
Finished steel
|
2012-13
|
2013-14
|
2014-15
|
2015-16
(April-Dec)
|
Bars &
Rods
|
29445
|
29420
|
31081
|
24,246
|
Structurals
|
5987
|
6857
|
7301
|
5,609
|
Rly. Materials
|
946
|
870
|
851
|
623
|
Plates
|
4891
|
4177
|
4770
|
3,508
|
H.R.
Coils\Skelp
|
19817
|
19991
|
20544
|
15,506
|
H.R. Sheets
|
485
|
965
|
1113
|
1223
|
C.R.
Sheets\coils
|
8807
|
8526
|
8295
|
6,048
|
GP\GC Sheets
|
5230
|
5428
|
5554
|
4,175
|
Elec. Sheets
|
541
|
462
|
541
|
328
|
Tinplate
(incl. ww)
|
434
|
462
|
525
|
324
|
Tin Mill Black
Plate (TMBP)
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
Pipes (Large
Dia.)
|
2046
|
1963
|
1993
|
1,538
|
Tin free steel
|
82
|
68
|
87
|
66
|
Alloy and
Stainless Steel
|
5861
|
6102
|
6758
|
5,942
|
Details
of Supply (as actual production for sale)
(in
thousand tons)
Category :
Total Finished steel
|
2012-13
|
2013-14
|
2014-15
|
2015-16
(April-Dec)
|
Bars &
Rods
|
28795
|
29550
|
32251
|
24803
|
Structurals
|
5932
|
6896
|
7495
|
5715
|
Rly. Materials
|
937
|
887
|
835
|
621
|
Plates
|
4161
|
3896
|
4700
|
2943
|
H.R.
Coils\Skelp
|
19391
|
20806
|
20205
|
13638
|
H.R. Sheets
|
556
|
920
|
1138
|
1218
|
C.R.
Sheets\coils
|
7654
|
7722
|
7509
|
5216
|
GP\GC Sheets
|
6287
|
6898
|
6892
|
4902
|
Elec. Sheets
|
155
|
126
|
140
|
92
|
Tinplate
(incl. ww)
|
301
|
344
|
354
|
237
|
Tin Mill Black
Plate (TMBP)
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
Pipes (Large
Dia.)
|
2007
|
1978
|
2094
|
1567
|
Tin free steel
|
16
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
Alloy and
Stainless Steel
|
5484
|
7637
|
8544
|
6759
|
Source : JPC
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YSK