Met coke producers, suppliers demand 30% anti-dumping duty on imports

An association of producers and suppliers of metallurgical coke has sought imposition of a 30 per cent anti-dumping duty on met coke to protect the local industry from cheap imports.

The Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers Association (IMCOM) stated that there is a dire need to protect the domestic industry with adequate policy measures as India is turning out to be a dumping ground for imported met coke.

"Rather, anti-dumping duties should be applicable to all countries irrespective of FTAs, which will help protect domestic manufacturers," IMCOM said in a statement.

The move will protect the domestic industry and give a fillip to the government's vision of a 'self-reliant' India, the association stated.

The merchant coke industry majorly caters to foundries, ferroalloys and the chemical sector among others. Though the merchant coke capacity in the country is around seven million tonnes, the current capacity utilisation is only around 30 per cent, and this is mainly due to oversupply in the Indian market amid imports.

Though the merchant coke capacity in the country is around seven million tonnes, the current capacity utilisation is only around 30 per cent, and this is mainly due to oversupply in the Indian market amid imports, the statement said.

With the current prices of imported coking coal, the cost of production for domestic met coke operations is approximately USD 100 per tonne, higher than imported met coke.

Countries with captive coking coal mines have an advantage in terms of the low cost of production, which is not the case for India, as India is heavily dependent on imported coking coal (95 per cent of coking coal demand is met through imports).

This adverse situation for the domestic met coke players is forcing them to drastically scale down their operations or shut down the plants, which has resulted in rising unemployment in the industry, the statement said.