Indian producers demand customs duty hike
India's Finance Ministry's decision to reduce the custom duty on steel to 5% drew harsh criticism from members of the Indian Steel Alliance (ISA). The ISA, composed of heavyweights like Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Essar Steel, Ispat Industries, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and Jindal Iron and Steel (JISCO), want the custom duty to be raised to 10%. At the same time, the members demanded that the ministry lower the excise duty on steel from 12% to 8% and that the duties on steelmaking raw materials be reduced to less than 5%. Members of the Cold Rolled Steel Manufacturers Association of India (CORSMA), on the other hand, welcomed the Finance Ministry's decision to reduce the customs duty to 5%. In fact, CORSMA, which buys hot rolled coils from ISA members in order to produce cold rolled and galvanized steel products to sell automotive industry, would like to see the ministry completely eliminate the customs duty.