India’s Largest Aluminum Producer Seeks Import Caps as Sector Looks to Up Competitiveness

India’s aluminum sector finds itself in a state of flux.
Secondary aluminum makers in India are not upset by the import levies announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, but have expressed concern at the inverted duty structure perpetuated by the Indian government itself.
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On the other hand, India’s largest aluminum producer wants the government to cap the quantity of imports of low-cost semis, wire rods and scrap from China and the U.S., as the percentage of inbound shipments in domestic demand is steadily going up.
As has always been the case, the primary and secondary producers are once again at loggerheads.
In all this, the sector, which is not yet on the core sectors list, has demanded a new policy itself, which the government says it is contemplating.
The Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI), a representative body of the secondary aluminum producers, recently issued a statement urging the government to bring basic customs duty on imports of aluminum scrap to zero from 2.5%. This was in response to a move by the Aluminium Association of India (AAI), which wants the duty to be raised to 10%. MRAI feels the move of a hike will take away jobs of thousands of people working in the downstream & ancillary industry, (MRAI) said in a statement.
Ongoing exports of primary aluminum have upset the secondary producers more than the Trump tax. This lot claims the skewed duty structure has squeezed capacity utilization and affected margins.
In all this, the largest producer of aluminum, Hindalco, has asked the government to impose quantitative restrictions on imports in the near term.
A Bloomberg Quint report quoted Satish Pai, managing director and CEO, as saying the government should move to duty safeguards eventually, adding that while quantitative restrictions will be helpful in the short term and are allowed under the World Trade Organization regime, safeguards will take at least six months.
Hindalco has asked the government to limit imports based on the average of the last three years of imported quantity.
In this kind of tax regimes, India’s aluminum industry is barely remaining competitive because it has the highest production costs for aluminum among the largest producers (including Canada, Russia, the Middle East and China). Other hurdles include high power costs, which drove smelter metal’s cost 73% higher in the last 15 years compared with a 64% rise in the price of aluminum on the London Metal Exchange.
As India strives to meet its economic growth targets, aluminum is becoming increasingly critical for its infrastructural needs. In India, aluminum consumption is pegged at 2.5 kg per capita. To reach the global average of 11 kg per capita, India must up annual consumption by 16 million tons.
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Experts in India are calling for the government to formulate a National Aluminium Policy (NAP) focusing on holistic short- and long-term visions, identifying growth targets for demand augmentation and capacity addition.

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