India’s Association of Seamless Pipes and Tubes has applied to the federal government seeking antidumping duty on imports from China, an association spokesperson said on Tuesday, October 6.
The spokesperson said that the domestic seamless pipe and tube industry is reeling from imports from China and has reached a crisis situation, with one of the largest producers, Maharashtra Seamless Limited (MSL), closing down.
Apart from MSL, the capacity utilizations of the two other largest seamless pipe and tube manufacturers, Jindal SAW and Indian Seamless Metal Tubes Limited, have fallen drastically, currently averaging not more than 20 percent, he added.
The spokesperson said that over 85 percent of the domestic production of seamless pipes and tubes is accounted for by national oil exploration and production major ONGC Limited. However, during the August-September period this year, the entire requirements of ONGC for 150,000 mt of tubes was met through imports from China, he said.
According to the estimates of the association, the landed price in India of ex-China seamless pipes and tubes is around INR 30,000/mt ($457/mt), while domestic products are priced at around INR 50,000/mt ($766/mt) ex-works.