The Iranian Syndicate of Steel Pipe and Profile Manufacturers wants the import duty on flats products to be cut, the association's general secretary said Friday.
The import duty on steel pipe is lower than flat products, Amirhosein Kaveh said, adding he had been told the duty would be reviewed after the presidential election in May.
According to the Iranian Steel Manufacturers Association, some 2.91 million mt of finished products were imported by Iran during the last Iranian year (to March 20), 31% lower year on year.
Imports of flat products included 1.65 million mt of hot-rolled coil (down 36%), 617,000 mt of cold-rolled coil (down 9%) and 350,000 mt of different coated flats (down 25%).
Iran has a highly protective policy towards its steel industry and there is a 20%-26% import duty for flat products, though deputy minister of industry, mines and trade Jafar Sargheini has said the government had approved a reduction in the import duty on some flat rolled steel products (including HRC of lower than 3 mm gage).
