India will increase customs duty on imports of aluminum scrap

The Indian government plans to raise the import duty on aluminum in an effort to protect domestic aluminum players. The industry has been pushing for higher import duties on primary aluminum as well as scrap aluminum, especially due to the phenomenal jump in imports over the past few months. The government currently levies a customs duty of 7.5% and 2.5% on imports of primary aluminum and scrap aluminum, respectively.

The Aluminum Association of India (AAI) has called for an increase in the duty on aluminum scrap, especially after the 10% import duty imposed by the US administration on aluminum products. China has also raised its responsibilities. The delegation of the association met with Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), to announce its demand. AAI noted that imports of scrap aluminum across the country more than doubled year-over-year from 16,000 tonnes to 36,000 tonnes during the opening quarter of the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Anil Agarwal, chairman of the Vedanta group, has called on the government to raise import duties on primary and scrap metal to 10% to save the country from dumping metal due to the ongoing US-China trade war.

In addition, the domestic aluminum industry has asked the government to consider introducing a minimum import price (MIP) and some form of import quotas for aluminum.