Government extends MIP on select steel products for 2 months

KOLKATA: The government has decided to extend the Minimum Import Price (MIP) regime on 66 steel items for a further period of two months till December 4, 2016. This was stated in an official notification by the union commerce ministry on Tuesday. MIP regime was supposed to come to an end on October 4, 2016. This is the second time that the MIP regime, initially introduced for a six-month period in February 2016, has been extended. It will apply to steel items like billets, bars, wire rods, and coated steel.

The list of steel products under MIP included 173 items, which was truncated to include 66 items as per notification issued on August 4, 2016.

The government decision will cheer the domestic steel industry. Last week, Indian Steel Association (ISA), a lobby group of leading domestic steel majors, had requested the government to consider extending the minimum import price (MIP) regime notified in August this year for another six months.

“The situation with respect to import prices of the 66 HS codes covered under the August 4, 2016 remains low and as per ISA understanding these prices operate on a predatory level. Demand for these products have not picked up domestically. The situation would be affected adversely if these are now imported at dismally low prices leading to an unwarranted glut in the domestic market,” Sanak Mishra, secretary general of ISA had said.