Rubber industries want dumping duty on synthetic import

KOLKATA: The country’s rubber goods producers, who depend on imported synthetic rubber for raw material, have sought a review of anti-dumping duties levied on styrene butadine rubber (SBR)-1900, high styrene butadine rubber (HSR), nitrile butadine rubber (NBR) and ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM).

Since there’s a huge gap between industry demand and domestic production of these raw materials, the industry ideally wants anti-dumping duties to be removed.

“If that isn’t possible, it is open to a review of the anti-dumping duty rates which have been imposed on them in different times,” said All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) president K T Thomas. Anti-dumping duties on SBR-1900, HSR, NBR and EPDM are levied on top of the basic import duty of 12.5%.

“This is not only robbing competitiveness of Indian rubber goods in overseas markets, but is also forcing domestic consumers to pay more,” Mr Thomas said. Usually, anti-dumping duties are being levied to protect domestic producers. But in case of those items, their domestic production is negligible.

According to AIRIA, total consumption of synthetic rubber in the country is 2,37,495 tonne against production of 97,634 tonne.

Ten years ago, anti-dumping duties were levied on SBR-1900 on the basis of a petition filed by a company called Synthetics and Chemicals, which was its sole producer then. The company was wound up seven years ago. But till date, no new units make the product. Supply is met through imports. The quality of whatever little quantity is available internally is not up to the international standard, alleges Mr Thomas.

The industry complains that anti-dumping duty continues to be levied on SBR-1900, though it was withdrawn recently from SBR-1500 and SBR-1700.