Steel

Massive consolidation is being witnessed in the Global Steel Industry with the Arcelor-Mittal Merger followed by the Tata’s acquisition of Corus. Tata Steel and Corus combined has become the 5^th Largest Steel producer in the world.

As per Joint Plant Committee (JPC), India’s apparent finished steel consumption grew by healthy 8.2% to 268.89 lakh tonne while that of pig iron increased by 8.4% to 28.54 lakh tonne in the eight months ended November 2006.

Budget Expectation—

·         Given the threat of imports from China, the steel industry is looking for a rise in custom duty rates on Iron and non-alloy steel from current levels of 5% to 10%.

·         The Industry expects a reduction in customs duty on melting scrap of iron and steel from 5% to 2%. Reduction of customs duty on melting scrap of iron and steel would give some relief to manufacturers in general and through Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route in particular.

·         The Industry also expects a reduction in customs duty on furnace oil as well as graphite electrodes of size above 24 inches diameter from 10% to 5%.