Indian domestic metallurgical coke (met coke) producers have petitioned the Indian government seeking the immediate imposition of 30 percent antidumping (AD) duty on met coke imports, the Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers’ Association (IMCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday, February 21.
“There is dire need to protect the domestic industry with adequate policy measures as India is turning out to be dumping ground for imported met coke,” the statement said.
“In fact, AD duty on met coke should be applicable irrespective of existing free trade agreements (FTAs) to help protect domestic manufacturers,” the statement said.
Merchant coke production capacity in India is estimated at 7 million mt but is currently operating at 30 percent utilization level, mainly due to oversupply and imports, IMCOM said.
It pointed out that, with imported coking coal as feedstock, the cost of domestic met coke production is about $100/mt higher than imported met coke.
Countries with captive coking coal mines have an advantage in terms of cost of production of met coke, which is not the case of Indian producers which are dependent to an extent of 95 percent on imported coking coal.
