New Delhi: India is likely to ask China to remove export duty on metcoke when the top brass of the commerce and industry ministry meet their Chinese counterparts here tomorrow. This would provide the much-needed respite to the domestic steel industry which is battling spiraling input costs and rising inventories.
“The Indian side is expected to raise the issue of either doing away with export duty or at east lowering it substantially to enable domestic steel utilities procure it at affordable rates from China,” official sources said. Commerce secretary G K Pillai along with ministry officials will interact with the Chinese delegtation led by vice-commerce minister Zhong Shan.
India has already lodged a protest with China saying that its traders selling coke to India are still required to furnish a letter of authority from one of the seven Chinese companies. “The Indian industry feels that this practice has been applied only in respect of Indian coke importers and not for importers from any other country. This increases transaction cost on top of the already high international prices of metcoke. We shall be grateful if the Chinese Government considers lifting the canalisation practice being followed,” commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath had pointed out in an earlier letter to his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming. Beijing had sought to allay apprehensions arguing that it has neither canalised sale of coke to India nor reduced coke export quota and instead permitting 39 more enterprises to export the mineral.
Source: Express news service
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