India has officially imposed 12 percent safeguard duty on steel imports (flat steel products – HRC, CRC, coated steel), according to a notification issued by the ministry of finance on Monday, April 21. “The government, after considering the said findings of the Director General Trade Remedies (DGTR), hereby imposes a provisional safeguard duty at the rate of 12 percent ad valorem,” the official notification said.
As per the notification, the safeguard duty will be with immediate effect and shall remain in effect for the next 200 days.
The safeguard duty will not be imposed on major flat steel products if the prices are the following or higher: HRC, sheet, plates - $675/mt CIF, heavy plates - $695/mt CIF, CRC - $824/m CIF, metallic coated flat steel - $861/mt CIF and color coated steel at $964/mt CIF.
Most market sources believe that this long-awaited decision will impact imports and will lead to a further rise in local flat steel prices, but it will be unlikely to fully stop the import trade flow as the duty will be applicable to all countries. “Duty will apply to all countries irrespective of FTA [like South Korea and Japan] or non-FTA [like China and Vietnam],” a local source said. “Finally, they did it. Mills have been waiting. It will be difficult to import, but not impossible,” another Indian source commented to SteelOrbis. Also, sources believe that, even though demand is unlikely to be very strong, as seen lately, the current move will “give the bottom price support in the low demand market,” one of the sources said.
HRC prices in India are expected to go up by another INR 1,000-1,500/mt ($12-18/mt) after the safeguard duty announcement, market sources believe. As SteelOrbis reported early this week, current local HRC trade prices have been at INR 51,500/mt ($606/mt) ex-Mumbai and INR 52,300/mt ($615/mt) ex-Chennai.
Considering the latest ex-China tradable HRC price at $490/mt CIF and adding the import duty of 7.5 percent and the new safeguard duty, the final import price could reach $586/mt CIF.
As for already booked cargoes which will arrive to India in the coming months, the duty will be paid “except for those cargoes imported against an advance license,” an local Indian source told SteelOrbis.
India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, was also a net importer of finished steel for the second consecutive year in the fiscal year 2024-25, with inward shipments reaching a nine-year high of 9.5 million mt, according to the provisional government data.
Last month, the DGTR, under the ministry of commerce, had recommended a tariff of 12 percent on some steel products for 200 days, as part of efforts to stem cheap imports. In December 2024, the DGTR started an investigation into the sudden surge in imports of non-alloy and alloy steel flat products.
The investigation was conducted following a complaint from the Indian Steel Association on behalf of its members including ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, AMNS Khopoli, JSW Steel, JSW Steel Coated Products, Bhushan Power & Steel, Jindal Steel and Power, and state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).