New Delhi: In a significant development, India’s trade remedies body has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into hot-rolled steel imports from China, Japan, and Russia, according to a government notification. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), in a notification, said that domestic producers had sought the investigation. DGTR works under the Union Ministry of Commerce. The companies that requested the probe include JSW Steel, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics Limited, and Jindal Steel Odisha.
The companies have said that imports from China, Russia, and Japan are being dumped into the Indian market at unfairly low prices, causing harm to the domestic industry and posing the risk of further damage in the future.
What is an anti-dumping investigation?
- An anti-dumping investigation is a trade and legal process
- It is conducted by the government to determine whether a foreign company is deliberately selling its products in the domestic market at prices lower than their actual production cost or even below the prices charged in its home country.
- This practice is known as “dumping” in trade terminology.
- The objective of such an investigation is to protect domestic industries from unfair and aggressive competition from foreign companies.
- If an investigation — such as one conducted by India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) — establishes that dumping has occurred and that it has caused injury to local industries, the government may impose an anti-dumping duty on the imported products.
- The measure is aimed at ensuring a level playing field between domestic manufacturers and foreign suppliers in the market.
China flooding India with steel imports
As per the notification, the investigation covers hot-rolled flat products of alloy and non-alloy steel with a thickness of up to 25 mm. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that China’s exports of finished steel to India more than doubled in April, reaching their highest level in at least two years.
Preliminary data reviewed by Reuters showed that China exported around 232,000 tonnes of finished steel to India in April, emerging as the largest supplier of such steel to the country. Buyers are increasingly turning to Chinese steel because it is cheaper than locally produced material, with hot-rolled steel from China costing between $11 and $37 less per tonne than domestic alternatives.