Question : Promotion of Steel Sector

(a) the details of the import of steel in the country during each of the last three years and the current year, country-wise and the trend of the quantum of import;

(b) whether the domestic steel production has shown declining trend during the said period and if so, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether cheap steel imports from various countries including China have adversely affected the domestic steel industry;

(d) if so, whether the Government proposes to increase import duty on steel imports and if so, the details thereof along with the time by which it is likely to be affected; and

(e) the other steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to protect/promote the steel industry and enhance indigenous steel production?

THE MINISTER OF STEEL AND MINES (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)to(e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the Lok Sabha.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*198 FOR ANSWER ON 03/08/2015 TABLED BY SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL AND SHRI E.T. MOHAMMED BASHEER, MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING PROMOTION OF STEEL SECTOR.

(a) Details are given at Annexure.

(b) No, Madam.

(c)to(e): Some domestic Steel Manufacturers and other stake holders have represented against surge in imports of steel. The same has been examined by Government and the following steps taken:-

(i) To ensure that only quality steel is imported, Government has notified Steel and Steel Product (Quality Control) Order dated 12.03.12 as last amended on 04.12.14.

(ii) Imposed anti-dumping duty on hot rolled flat stainless steel imports from China, Malaysia and South Korea on 05.06.2015.

(iii) Raised the basic Customs Duty on various categories of steel vide Notification No.39 dated 16.06.2015.

(iv) Notified Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Amendment Act, 2015 on 30.03.2015 and auctioned Coal Mines.

(v) Notified Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations Amendment) Act, 2015 on 27.03.2015.

(vi) Imposed Export Duty at the rate of 30% ad valorem on all varieties of iron ore with effect from 30.12.2011 and 5% ad valorem on iron ore pellets with effect from 27.01.2014. Further Export Duty at the rate of 10% has been levied on iron ore containing less than 58% Fe content with effect from 30.04.2015.

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ANNEXURE TO REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.198 DUE ON 03.08.15

IMPORT OF TOTAL FINISHED STEEL (''000 tonnes)
COUNTRY 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 April-June 2015-16*
ARGENTINA 2.1 0.5 0.82 0
AUSTRALIA 8.4 5.1 8.28 1.09
BAHRAIN 7.0 0.8 0.22 0.02
BANGLADESH 0.0 0.0 0 0
BELGIUM 168.2 94.8 126.13 30.9
BRAZIL 144.3 70.0 128.87 1.26
CANADA 34.7 18.1 7.31 0.87
CHILE 0.1 0.1 0.02 0
CHINA 1688.2 1088.4 3600.42 723.16
DENMARK 3.5 1.0 4.78 1.02
DJIBOUTI 0.1 0.0 0 0.62
EGYPT 0.0 0.0 0 0
FINLAND 12.4 13.8 11.8 3.8
FRANCE 126.7 36.5 155.84 24.86
GERMANY 569.5 186.0 149.03 89.07
GHANA 0.0 0.0 0 0
HONGKONG 3.2 0.4 1.5 0.23
INDONESIA 5.5 2.3 14.41 83.8
IRAN 129.2 100.7 0 0
ITALY 83.1 25.2 54.95 8.29
JAPAN 1545.0 1355.7 1583.31 584.98
JORDAN 0.0 0.0 0 0
KAZAKHSTAN 14.1 8.1 8.93 0
KOREA 1576.7 1312.6 1874.93 602.56
KUWAIT 0.3 0.1 1.79 0
LEBANON 0.0 0.0 0 0
MACEDONIA 0.0 0.0 0 0
MALAYASIA 45.3 29.9 95.99 17.7
NETHERLANDS 25.7 21.6 40.21 7.49
ROMANIA 10.4 26.2 11.14 0.5
RUSSIA 326.6 145.9 226.02 56.72
SAUDI ARABIA 41.0 47.8 4.19 0.26
SOUTH AFRICA 57.9 44.1 71.47 13.94
SPAIN 73.5 21.1 29.67 5.77
SRI LANKA 0.3 0.2 0.12 0.01
TAIWAN 200.1 118.8 190.33 44.84
THAILAND 18.3 21.9 15.93 14.15
TURKEY 36.3 14.1 29.09 0.43
U.K. 63.3 28.0 30.26 9.2
UAE 41.1 19.6 34.14 11.55
UKRAINE 419.7 323.0 348.77 95.34
USA 116.8 79.3 120.12 17.46
Others 326.4 188.7 339.24 118.3
Total 7925 5450 9320 2570
Source: JPC; *prov
Trend : There is decline of about 31 % in imports during 2013-14 and increase of about 71 % during 2014-15, as compared to previous financial year.

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