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Indian copper firms sends SOS to government on cheap imports-The 17th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy
Exhibition
10/16/2015 Metal &Metallurgy expo |
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India''s three copper majors Hindalco Industries, Vedanta Ltd and Hindustan Copper Ltd have warned the government that the sector is facing an imminent shutdown in the face of a surge in cheaper imports from Japan and Asean countries
Operating at 75% of capacity, the industry has cautioned about further cuts in production that could impact 10,000 jobs, blaming free trade agreements or FTAs, which would allow an influx of duty-free copper by 2021, for making the entire sector unviable.
An industry executive said “Both primary copper producers and downstream industries, including over 800 small and medium enterprises, are suffering, and production may have to be cut further soon. The issues have been raised with officials in the mines ministry and would also be taken up with the ministries of finance and commerce. ''The domestic industry looks forward to government''s support to maintain its viability and improve its competitiveness and will contribute significantly to the PM''s vision of Make in India.”
The development assumes significance amid a tepid global commodity market that is seeing demand shrink as China''s hunger for resources is slowing down in tandem with its growth. The copper industry''s SOS call comes within a month of the Modi government decision to impose a 20% safeguard duty on import of some steel products for 200 days, after a similar clarion call from local steelmakers.
Top executives from the copper industry have stressed on the need to take urgent steps to reverse the trend that has now led to imports capturing a third of the market and proposed a hike in import duties on refined copper products from 5% to 7.5% and doing away with the 2.5% import duty on raw copper concentrate.
The industry is struggling to maintain its ability to compete with imports, with FTAs bringing the duty on refined copper from Japan and Asean nations down to 2.73%. These pacts also promise a reduction in custom duty to zero by 2021, so imports will become even cheaper than indigenous copper products
The duty differential between domestic and imported copper products has gone down gradually from 20% in 2002-03 to 2.5% since April 2011, severely impacting the feasibility of the original business plans of Indian copper makers when building up these capacities.
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-metal&metallurgy-The
17th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy Exhibition
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