The Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) has imposed anti-dumping duty on electro-galvanized steel originating in or exported from South Korea, Japan, and Singapore and imported into India to offset the injury to the domestic industry.

Due to its corrosion-resistant properties, galvanized steel is used in solar energy products, including solar charge controllers, module mounting structures, and support structures.

The Ministry added that the goods had been exported to India below normal values, and the domestic industry had suffered a material injury. The anti-dumping duty will be levied for five years.

Some galvanized steel producers mentioned in the gazette are POSCO Group, Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Hyundai Steel Company, DK Dongshin Company from Korea, and Nippon Steel Corporation from Japan.

In May, the Department of Revenue imposed a duty of 15% on the export of steel. The move was expected to bring down the prices of solar mounting structures, providing some relief to manufacturers and project developers. The duty was imposed on flat-rolled steel products of a width of 600 mm or more, other bars and rods of stainless steel, and bars and rods hot rolled into irregularly wound coils of other alloy steel.

However, the government decided not to impose any duty on importing raw materials used for steel production, like pulverized coal, coking coal, and ferronickel.

The duty has come into place when the solar sector is already staggering with rising prices and duties on multiple products used in power generation projects. The government has imposed anti-dumping duty on the import of fluoro backsheets (excluding transparent backsheets) from China. Imports of fluoro backsheets from Chinese companies Jollywood and Sunwatt attracted a duty of $762/MT and $908/MT from other producers.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended extending the anti-dumping duty on imported textured tempered glass (solar glass) from China by two more years. It was first imposed in August 2017 and was to expire in August 2022. An anti-dumping probe was initiated following a request from Indian solar glass manufacturer Borosil Renewables.

DGTR has also recommended anti-dumping duty on certain flat-rolled aluminum products imported from China. Flat-rolled aluminum is used in manufacturing solar module mounting structures for rooftop solar projects.

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