Hindalco, one of the largest aluminium producers in India, has urged the government to cap the quantity of imports of low-cost semis, wire rods, scrap from China, southeast Asia, and the United States, fearing the rising share of inbound shipments in the domestic market.
“We have asked the government to impose quantitative restrictions on imports in the near term,” said Satish Pai, Hindalco’s managing direct and chief executive office. According to his opinion, the government should move to duty safeguards eventually but before that should put quantitative restrictions.
He added that although the profit of aluminium producer clocked double in the Q1 ended on June 30 driven by manufacturing and government’s infrastructure push, the import quantity rose 20 per cent in the said period due to continued arrival of low-cost fake semis and wire rods from Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia.
According to Hindalco’s conference call in May, the total amount of aluminium import in India accounts for more than 50 per cent in the market. This causes a real concern among the domestic producers, especially after the Trump administration’s 10 per cent import duties on aluminium products.
Since the implication of the US imported tariffs on aluminium, producers from China and Middle East are likely diverting their excess metals to the Indian market.
Hindalco, therefore, has reportedly asked the government to limit import based on the average of last three years of imported quantity. The industry is also working with the government to impose BIS standards for aluminium scrap to ensure only specific grade and quality of aluminium enters the country, said Pai.
Responses
