Directorate General of Trade Remedies moots anti-dumping duty on low-ash met coke

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of low-ash metallurgical coke.Based on its preliminary findings, the DGTR has suggested anti-dumping duty ranging from $73.55 per tonne to $130.66 per tonne, depending on the country of export. The lowest anti-dumping duty rate has been recommended on imports from Australia and the highest on imports from China.

The period of investigation for the complaint was between October 2023 and September 2024. The Indian Metallurgical Coke Manufacturers Association (IMCOM) had filed a complaint with the DGTR, alleging that low-ash met coke was being dumped into India, which was hurting local manufacturers. The DGTR observed that the landed value of met coke undercuts met coke domestic prices by 15-25%.

“Since the price of subject imports is lower than the selling price of the domestic industry, the same has created a strain on the prices of the domestic industry,” the investigation authority noted.

It also said that the domestic industry incurred financial losses and cash losses in FY23 and the following year.

The DGTR said that domestic capacity for low-ash met coke exceeds demand, with demand being 6.39 million tonnes (mt) and capacity being 6.71 mt.Low-ash met coke is a feedstock for the steel industry, but most steel producers have captive coke ovens to convert coking coal into met coke and, therefore, are not dependent on imports.