Mr. Seyyed Reza Shahrestani, Member of Board of Director of ISPA said “The reduction of steel tariffs was a major shock to the steel community, we did not expect the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade to do this”.
As per the recent resolution taken by Cabinet of Ministers to support domestic industry, the import duty for HRC (Below 3mm) reduced to 10%, Hot rolled strips reduced to 15% and Billet reduced to 5%.
Speaking with Chilan Online, Mr. Shahrestani said, “last year due to production restrictions on sheet below 3mm, Mobarakeh Steel was asked to reduce the tariffs for this particular commodity in order to simplify the sheet tariff. Unfortunately, the tariff reduction in the HRC and billet has taken place, regardless of expert studies and opinion of the experts, and advice from the association.
The export of billets and slabs will be around 5 MnT in this year end, which means the surplus of domestic consumption. In such situation, the reduction of import tariffs will motivate traders/manufacturers to import goods from other countries. As a result, we will see a fall in domestic prices and a further stagnation in the steel industry.”
Referring to new production capacities this year in the country, he said: “Recent establishment of the Mobarakeh Steel Military Unit and the activation of the Gilan Steel Complex has increased the capacity of hot plates production and we will no longer need to import. The mistake will also affect the activity of these units.”
The member of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Steel Manufacturers Association concluded that the tariffs had not yet been notified to the Ministry of Hygiene and Customs. The Association will follow this issue seriously and we hope that we can convince the government before it is communicated to restore tariffs to the former status.
According to ISPA around 1.2 million MnT of finished steel products were imported during first 7 months of current Persian Year, down by 33% Y-o-Y. Around 26,000 MnT of semi-finished products were imported, a fall of 83% was registered Y-o-Y. Flat products were the country’s main imported steel product in this period.
Around 500,000 MnT of hot-rolled coil was imported, down by 54% Y-o-Y. HRC imports included 373,000 MnT up to 3 mm thickness (down by 54% Y-o-Y), and 128,000 MnT of above 3 mm thickness (down by 50% Y-o-Y).
Inputs taken from Chilan Online
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