This final notification from Indian government for imposition of AD duty on import of cold rolled flat products of stainless steel, falling under heading 7219 and originating in, or exported from the People’s Republic of China, Korea, European Union, South Africa, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand and United States of America, means that

1. There is no dumping duty on stainless CR products below 600mm width and above 1250mm width because domestic industry can produce sheets and coils only up to 1250mm width maximum.

2. Furthermore within the domestic width capability up to 1250mm, certain grades of Duplex and high performance stainless grades are exempt from antidumping duty

The exemption is granted as they are not produced in India but are vital for infrastructure growth in nuclear, thermal, railways, oil & gas, chemical process plants, ship & submarine building, desalination plants and storage tanks. Even many kitchenwares needed imports to carve an impressive share in the global markets.

Indian infrastructure needs special grades of stainless steel in wide width. Use of wider sheets and coils means higher yield & productivity for the end user to be globally competitive and manufacturing a safe process vessel which will avoid fatalities due to corrosion failures.

The most important aspect is that the end user retains his right to choose his vendor to be viable.

Surprisingly, Finance Ministry waited till the last day of the 90 days period to notify this.