India initiates anti-dumping probe on Vietnamese HRC steel products

Steel

The Director General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is starting an anti-dumping investigation on imports of Hot rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel originating in or exported from Vietnam, following a petition by the Indian Steel Association (ISA), who claimed the same are being sold at low prices, causing harm to the domestic industry.

"There is sufficient prima facie evidence that the domestic industry has suffered material injury and there is a threat of injury due to dumped imports from the subject country to justify the initiation of the anti-dumping investigation," according to a gazette notification from the Ministry Of Commerce and Industry dated August 14 that was notified on Friday.

India imported 3.55 mnt HRC/plates in FY24, out of which imports from Vietnam stood at 0.62 mnt. Imports from Vietnam have trebled from 0.22 mnt in FY23 to 0.62 mnt in FY24, as per data maintained with BigMint.

"The product under consideration in the subject investigation is “hot rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel, not clad, not plated or coated, of a thickness upto 25 mm and width upto 2100 mm,” DGTR said in its notice.

These HRC steel products find their application in automotive, oil and gas line pipes/exploration, fertilizer, refineries, earth-moving, construction, etc.  The ISA had filed an application on behalf of domestic producers, namely, JSW Steel Limited and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited, who alleged that imported Vietnamese HRCs were priced at unfairly low prices, hurting the local industry.

The move comes as elevated imports pressured domestic steel prices, hitting the earnings of the steelmaker even as raw material costs remained low.

According to reports, in 2023-24, India saw a significant rise in steel imports at 8.3 million tonnes, which was higher than the 7.5 million tonnes it exported.