Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) an organization responsible for implementing the foreign trade policy in India under the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced, via public notice no. 04/2015-2020 an amendment in their handbook of procedures 2015-2020 that, it exempts metallic waste and scrap (shredded and unshredded) coming from five ‘safe countries/regions’ from requiring a pre-shipment inspection certificate (PSIC). The five developed countries defined as ‘safe countries/regions’ in the notice are USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the EU-28 (Europe), under another condition that the shipments are cleared through six specific Indian ports: Chennai, Tuticorin, Kandla, JNPT, Mumbai and Krishnapatnam.
These shipments should however be accompanied by a certificate of the respective supplier/scrap yard authority certifying that the shipment does not contain any radioactive materials or explosives. All shipments will nevertheless be screened through portal monitors and container scanners at the port of arrival.
Earlier to this, it was compulsory to have the PSI certificate before the inspection of shipments, hereafter the exemption of it may provide a relief to the participants in terms of time and procedures supporting scrap imports in the country.
Indian ferrous scrap imports fell by 15% in 2017 amid high global prices – In CY 2017, India imported 4.57 MnT ferrous scrap which was registered 15% Y-o-Y fall as against 5.35 MnT ferrous scrap imports during CY16. United States remained the largest exporter occupying almost 16% share in total scrap imports. US exported highest 0.74 MnT volumes of ferrous scrap to India. Followed by other prominent sources like United Arab Emirates (0.66 MnT), United Kingdom (0.48 MnT), South Africa (0.26 MnT), Australia (0.22 MnT), Hong Kong (0.19 MnT), Singapore (0.18 MnT), Malaysia (0.17 MnT) and China (0.16 MnT) respectively.
According to customs data maintained with SteelMint, India imported 674,492 MT ferrous scrap during first two months of CY18 down 16% Y-o-Y as against 806,169 MT ferrous scrap imports recorded during the same period CY17. Out of which UAE occupied 24% share followed by US, Canada, South Africa and United Kingdom occupying 7%, 6%, 6% and 6% share in total scrap imports to India respectively.
Indian government predicts that the improving demand for scrap based steelmaking will lead scrap imports to grow further in coming years. Increasing auto-shredding plant and an optimism on Vehicle recycling policy which is expected by 2020 will enhance scrap availability in Indian steelmaking in the near terms.
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