Indian aluminium industry has urged the government to reduce the basic customs duty on critical raw materials like aluminium fluoride, stating that high import duties are a huge disadvantage as they make Indian finished goods costlier and uncompetitive in the international markets.
Aluminium Association of India said “To improve the cost structure of the Indian Aluminium industry and enhance competitiveness, it is requested to reduce the basic custom duty on the critical raw materials. Basic customs duty on raw materials like aluminium fluoride, caustic soda lye and green anode and pre-baked carbon anode should be reduced to 2.5 percent from current 7.5 percent. The high import duties on raw materials are a huge disadvantage for domestic aluminium producers which are heavily dependent on imported raw materials. It results in Indian finished goods getting costlier and uncompetitive in international markets, rendering negative protection against cheaper imports of finished products, and discourages domestic value addition within the country.”
AAI has also suggested to the government to increase import duty on aluminium scrap HS Code 7602 at par with primary aluminium metal to 10 percent from the present 2.5 per cent in a bid to encourage recycling of domestic scrap and restrict increasing scrap imports.
AAI has also asked the government to eliminate high cess on coal INR 400 per tonne to support the power intensive industries like aluminium and retain competitiveness of the domestic industry.
*Original article online at https://steelguru.com/metal/budget-2020-aai-seeks-reduction-in-customs-duty-on-input-materials/554778#