In order to restrict cheaper steel imports in to India, government announced MIP (Minimum Import Price) on 173 steel products on 5 Feb’16.
However, as the lead time for any import shipment to reach India is usually 45-60 days, the MIP impact can be seen only in the import numbers of April month.
As per the provisional customs data, HR/Plates imports have fallen by 69% whereas CRC import plunged by 79% M-o-M basis. HR/Plates imports (under HS code 7208) in Apr’16 (till 23 April) stood at 0.11 MnT and CRC import (under HS code 7209) stood at 37,560 MT.
If Y-o-Y comparison is done, HR/Plates imports this year registered a fall of 62% whereas CRC imports fell by 58% against previous one.
Since June 2015, Indian government has been imposing trade barriers to restrict steel imports in to India.
In June, import duty on steel imports was hiked by 2.5%. Later on in Aug’15, import duty was once again hiked by 2.5% making it to 12.5% in order to help domestic players battle out cheap Chinese imports after currency devaluation by China.
Then in Sept’15, government imposed 20% provisional safeguard duty on hot rolled flat products of non alloy and other alloy steel for 200 days.
However all these measures failed to restrict cheap imports in to India resulting which government announced MIP in Feb’16. As MIP is imposed for six months till 4 Aug’16, government has already initiated anti-dumping duty investigations on HRC, plates, and CRC.
What is MIP?
MIP is the price fixed by the government below which imports will not be allowed in to India irrespective of prices in the international market.
For example, if MIP imposed on HRC is USD 445/MT, HRC imports will be allowed in to India only at or above USD 445/MT, FoB India basis.
MIP fixed for HRC is USD 445/MT, for CRC it is USD 560/MT whereas for plates it is USD 500/MT.
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