India has imposed antidumping duties on coke imports from China and Australia, which will be effective over the next five years, according to a statement released late Friday by the country's Ministry of Finance.
Duties of $25.20/mt and $16.29/mt will be levied on imports from China and Australia, respectively, starting November 25.
The antidumping application had been filed in December by the Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers Association, whose members include coke makers Saurashtra Fuels Pvt. Ltd., Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd., Carbon Edge Industries Ltd., Bhatia Coke and Energy Ltd. and Basudha Udyog Pvt. Ltd, which together account for more than half of India's merchant coke output.
But market participants stated that the duty of $25.20/mt imposed on Chinese coke imports was only a small fraction of the current price and might not boost the competitiveness of Indian alternatives.
S&P Global Platts assessed metallurgical coke 64/62% CSR at $343/mt FOB North China, and $354/mt CFR India last Friday.
Indian steelmakers were already mulling output cuts as most were exposed to soaring Australian coking coal prices in the last two quarters, sources said.
Next on the agenda for coke and steel producers will be petitioning for the scrapping of the 2.5% import duty on coking coal, an Indian coke maker said. "It will face no opposition from anyone in the industry and should be passed quickly," the source said.
