India extends temporary safeguard duties on some steel products by two months

The government has extended provisional anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled and cold-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel by a further two months, in order to protect local mills and reduce overseas purchases, an official notification said.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs imposed provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of hot-rolled and cold-rolled long steel products originating in China, Japan, Korea, among others, the notification showed.

Safeguard measures cannot be imposed for a longer term until an investigation by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping concludes.

Indian steelmakers such as the Steel Authority of India, JSW Steel and Essar Steel had lobbied for action against cheap imports of these products, undercutting domestic products and causing material loss to local producers.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has conducted anti-dumping investigations on the basis of a duly substantiated petition filed by the domestic industry alleging dumping of goods into the country causing injury to the local industry.

The basic intent of the anti-dumping measures is to eliminate injury caused to the domestic industry by the unfair trade practices of dumping of goods from other countries and to create a level playing field for the domestic industry.

Currently the DGAD is investigating dumping of rubber, including ''Polybutadiene Rubber or PBR'' originating in or exported from Korea PR, Russia, South Africa, Iran and Singapore based on a petition filed by Reliance Industries Limited.

Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) of 1500 series and 1700 series, originating in or exported from European Union, Korea RP and Thailand are currently being investigated based on the petition filed by Indian Synthetic Rubber Pvt Limited and Reliance Industries Limited.