Close on the heels of the imposition of a 20 percent export tax on graphite electrodes aimed at increasing domestic availability, India’s Directorate General for Anti Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) is likely to review the antidumping (AD) duty on this steel making input around end of the current month, a government official said on Friday, February 9.
The official said that, against the backdrop of the export tax and the shortage of graphite electrodes faced by domestic electric arc furnace (EAF) operators, it is only logical that the antidumping duty currently in force will be reviewed to ease shortages in the domestic market.
The Indian government imposed the export tax in the national budget placed before parliament on February 1.
At present, the antidumping duty rate on graphite electrodes ranges between $278.19/mt and $922/mt, depending on the origin of the product. The import protection measure was imposed by the DGAD in 2015 for a period of five years.
According to data sourced from the government, Indian imports of graphite electrodes during the April-October period of 2017 amounted to around 2,900 mt. During the January-October period, Indian exports of graphite electrodes were estimated at 64,300 mt.