India seeks tougher rules on imports of defective and non-standard steel

The Indian government has announced that it will take the necessary steps to curb imports of defective or non-standard steel, as part of efforts to protect domestic producers. This was announced during a high-level meeting of the ministries of industry and steel, which took place on Tuesday.

It was noted that local players prefer imports of low-quality and defective steel as they are cheaper. However, their use affects the quality of the goods produced. Different industries have their own guidelines for quality control of steel products to determine if they are defective or substandard. The government noted that the government will take additional steps to curb imports.

Major steelmakers, including JSW Steel, SAIL and Tata Steel, have agreed to supply steel to exporters of engineering products at the same price they export to other countries. Manufacturers of mechanical engineering products have complained that steelmakers are charging them 15-20% more, which makes their products uncompetitive in the global market. Such an offer will be limited to those wholesalers who export the finished product after adding value, provided that it is not sold on the domestic market.

The move is expected to double the export of engineering products over the next five years, sources said. By the way, in 2018-1919, the export of mechanical engineering from India grew by 6% and reached $ 83.7 billion compared to the previous year.