Indian engineering exporters seek parity in domestic steel and export prices

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Business Line reported that engineering goods exporters have sought the government’s intervention to ensure uniformity in domestic prices of steel and export prices alleging that some domestic producers of alloy were exporting at prices which were about a fourth lower than what they were offering at home. EEPC India Chairman Ravi P Sehgal told BusinessLine that “We have raised the issue with the Commerce Ministry and have pointed out that the lower export prices of steel was giving our competitors in countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia a competitive edge which is unfair.”

Commerce Ministry officials have, however, asked the complainants to come up with more numbers to establish their case.

Mr Sehgal said that “We have started the preliminary work to get enough numbers to establish our point. We will be getting data from various ports and make comparisons.”

He said that “There is a 20-25 per cent difference in the price of steel in the domestic market and the price at which the manufacturers export to countries like Vietnam. If the domestic engineering industry is given the raw material at the same prices, our competitiveness will go up several fold.”

He added that “The Commerce Ministry will have to work with the Steel Ministry for regulating domestic steel prices and it would not be difficult once the differential pricing is established. Total export of steel, anyway, is just a small percentage of total production.”

Source : Business Line