India is likely to impose five-year anti-dumping duties of $222-334/tonne on imports of coated/plated tin mill flat rolled steel from the EU, Japan, US and South Korea. This is the recommendation of India’s Directorate General Trade Remedies (DGTR) after it completed its investigation.

The probe was launched in June 2019 following a petition from JSW Vallabh Tinplate and The Tinplate Company of India (see Kallanish passim),

The product under consideration (PUC) is tin mill flat rolled steel coated or plated with tin or chromium/chromium oxides, either on one side or both sides, whether or not lacquered and/or printed. Tin mill flat rolled steel products include tinplate as well as tin-free steel, which is also known as Electrolytic Tin Plate (ETP), Tin Free Steel (TFS), and Electrolytic Chromium Coated Steel (ECCS), says DGTR. The PUC is generally used for packaging.

The products in question fall under HS codes 72101110, 72101190, 72101210, 72101290, 72105000, 72109010, 72121010, 72121090, 72125020, 72121010, 72125090 and 72259900. However, imports of the PUC have also been observed in certain other HS codes such as 72109090, 72107000, 72103090, 72255010, 72124000.

None of the producers/exporters from the subject countries cooperated in the investigation by responding to the questionnaire. This was apart from JFE Steel, JFE Shoji Trade, Metal One, Marubeni Itochu Steel, Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel Trading, Ohmi Industries, Tetsusho Kayaba, Toyto Tshusho – all based in Japan – US-based American International and Belgium-based Ferrum.

The probe shows PUC imports from the subject countries in the period of investigation (POI), which was calendar-year 2019, rose 13% versus the fiscal year through March 2016 to 212,498 tonnes. Domestic apparent PUC consumption rose 6% in the period. EU-origin imports saw the largest increase of 29% to 115,681t. US-origin imports had the lowest landed value of $642/tonne during the POI.

However, the capacity utilisation of domestic industry rose 31% in the period and domestic sales soared 412%.

DGTR concluded the PUC has been exported to India at below its associated normal value, thus resulting in dumping, and that domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumping.

 Source: DGTR