India considers imposing anti-dumping duties on coke imports

The country already applies import quotas on low-ash metallurgical coke, which will expire in December

India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has preliminarily recommended imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of low-ash metallurgical coke from six countries: Australia, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, and Russia. This was reported by S&P Global.

The DGTR cites significant dumping and damage to Indian producers.

India launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of metallurgical coke from these countries at the end of March this year, following a complaint from an industry association comprising domestic producers of this product.

In addition, the country had already introduced import quotas on metallurgical coke from January 1 to June 30, which were subsequently extended from July 1 to December 31 this year.

In its latest decision, the DGTR recommended the following duty rates:

$82.75/t for Indonesia,
$130.66/t for China,
$119.51/t for Colombia,
$82.12/t for Russia,
$73.55/t for Australia,
$60.87/t for Japan.

The duties are recommended for coke with an ash content of less than 18%, except for certain grades with ultra-low phosphorus content.

The market is currently considering this move. Indonesia has been the largest supplier of coke to India in recent years, with imports from this country to the Indian market amounting to 2.08 million tons in 2024.

However, traders believe that Indonesian imports will remain competitive even despite tariffs compared to other supplier countries due to prices, delivery terms, and quality.

Recall that the secretary of the Ministry of Steel, Sandeep Paundrik, called the country’s significant dependence on imported coking coal the main obstacle to increasing steel production in the country. According to him, the agency and the Ministry of Coal Industry are negotiating to increase the local share in metallurgy in order to reduce dependence on foreign supplies and lower production costs.