Coke manufacturers flag dumping by Chinese firms through Indonesia, misuse of import curbs

Domestic coke makers allege misuse of import curbs, calls for probe

India’s metallurgical coke makers have accused Chinese-owned firms in Indonesia of dumping, saying they are misusing trade relaxations to undercut domestic prices.

Low-ash metallurgical coke (met coke) is a raw material used as a reducing agent and fuel in blast furnaces in steelmaking, and helps convert iron ore into molten iron.

In its letter to the commerce ministry, the Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers Association (IMCOM) said around 650,000 million tonnes (MT)–700,000 MT of Indonesian coke entered India in January-June, exceeding the 66,364 MT quota.

In January, India banned unrestricted imports of low-ash metallurgical coke (met coke), introducing country-specific quotas to safeguard domestic producers. From June 30, the curbs were extended to the end of December.

"The met coke industry is still facing a lot of headwinds for its sustainability from various quarters despite the issue of notification of 'quantitative restrictions' by the government of India," the industry body, which represents the merchant met-coke manufacturers,  said in a letter dated September 14.

The consumer industry “pretended that met coke is available only in a select few countries (and primarily in Indonesia)” to get a dilution of SGQR in favour of Indonesia.

“The real intent of the consumer industry was, however, to seek permission to import from Indonesia, as the Chinese-owned Indonesia producers are offering the lowest and dumped prices,” the letter said.

“The landed price of met-coke imports is not just below the selling price of the domestic industry but also below the cost of sales of the domestic industry."

Also read: Steel major ArcelorMittal Nippon gets import exemption for key raw material despite curb

Industry and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has stressed the importance of domestic met coke purchases.

Speaking at the ISA Steel Conclave early his month, the minister urged the industry to think beyond protection and subsidies, and to identify areas for import substitution to become self-reliant in supply chains.

IMCOM, however, said the domestic coke industry is not getting adequate purchase enquires "due to sustained vindictive efforts from the consumer industry for their onerous focus on predatorily priced met coke from Indonesia".

"The domestic met coke industry has offered coke availability to various consumer industry in India but unfortunately, it has not got any conducive response," the body wrote to the ministry.