India slaps anti-dumping duty on 47 steel products for 5 years

India has imposed anti-dumping duty on 47 steel products, reinforcing government's efforts to restrict imports of cheap steel that harm domestic producers, despite complaints from some of the targeted countries.

India, the world's third-largest steel producer, has been taking several measures over the past two years, including setting a floor price for imported steel, to safeguard the interests of local steel industry.

The duties are applicable on hot-rolled flat products of alloy and non-alloy steel, originating in or exported from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia, and will be effective for five years from 8 August 2016, the ministry of finance said in a statement on its website.

The latest levy on import of hot-rolled steel follows recommendation from the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), which has also suggested a similar step for some cold-rolled products.

While India's move to raise import duties on steel has prompted the world's second-biggest steel producer Japan to move the World Trade Organization for setting up a dispute settlement panel, India holds the measure to be in conformity with WTO rules.

Local steel companies such as JSW Steel, Tata Steel and SAIL have benefited from the tariff revisions, with imports falling around 37 per cent year-on-year to 7.4 million tonnes in the 2015-16 financial year. Exports from the country jumped 102 per cent to 8.2 million tonnes in the year ended 31 March 2016.

Between April 2016 and January this year, India's steel imports fell 38 per cent year-on-year, official data showed.