Govt should re-impose import duty on steel: Roongta

NEW DELHI: The government should re-impose import duty on all categories of steel soon to ward off the threat of cheaper shipments from countries like China amid the global economic recession, SAIL Chairman S K Roongta today said.

As anti-dumping laws are there in India, the government should act swiftly and take precaution to safeguard the domestic steel industry, Roongta told reporters on the sidelines of a metal conference here.

Asked if SAIL is contemplating cutting production due to the slackening demand for steel, Roongta said the company's output would be "market-oriented" and in accordance with the demand.

Even as Roongta refrained giving a clear picture of the production cut, Steel Secretary P K Rastogi had a couple of days back said that the state-run steel behemoth may have to lower output for some of its products as its offtake in October dipped by as much as 37 per cent.

According to industry experts, demand for steel in India has nosdived by over 30 per cent in the last few months, mainly on account of the slowdown and potential buyers putting off purchases in anticipation of prices falling further.

As a fallout of reducing demand for the commodity, steel producers have announced cutting output by over 20 per cent.
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has said it would rationalise the product mix as per the current market conditions and modify the production programme to reduce output by around 20 per cent from November.

Ruias-promoted Essar Steel and Vinod Mittal-led Ispat Industries are operating below optimum capacity. "It is true that our steel plants are operating at about 75 per cent of their capacities," an Essar spokesperson said.