Business Line reported that the Indian steel industry has urged the government to levy export duty of 40 per cent on graphite electrodes to improve domestic supply and bring down prices. The industry also wants the government to remove the country-specific high anti-dumping duty of USD 238 -900 a tonne levied on graphite imports. Mr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Secretary General, Indian Steel Association, said “It is important that export of graphite electrodes is restricted given that the Indian steel industry is at the crossroads and several steel producers are going through insolvency proceedings. To tide over the present situation, he said both the anti- dumping duty and the customs duty on imports of graphite electrodes should be temporarily put in abeyance till the balance between demand and supply is restored globally.”

However, Mr Ravi Jhunjhunwala, Chairman and Managing Director, HEG, one of the largest graphite manufacturer, said the graphite prices are going up due to strong demand and not due to short-supply. He said the rise in graphite price has pushed up steel making cost by 6 per cent from 2 per cent and is surprising that steel companies are not targeting the rise in cost of other raw materials.

The levy of anti-dumping duty and strong demand has pushed up domestic graphite electrode prices by over five times in the last three years to USD 15,000 a tonne, from USD 2,350 a tonne in June 2015. The rise in graphite prices has pushed up steel making cost by about INR 1,500-1,700 per tonne.

Graphite exports from India, which accounts for 24 per cent of global supply, are expected to touch INR 9,000 crore this year compared to INR1,800 crore

Source : Business Line