Steelmakers in the country expect some relief soon as the government is likely to roll back export duty on some steel products, if not all, Moneycontrol reported.
Senior industry executives told Moneycontrol that the government is likely to withdraw the export duty on steel in phases. The government is believed to be considering rolling back export duty on flat products first, while the export duty on building construction steel like Rebars, wire roads, and roofing sheets would continue.
The flat steel products include the likes of the hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil, and plates, among other things, the report said.
Industry experts and officials have been urging the government to roll back the levy as it increases uncertainty in the export market. They maintained that the duty was a double whammy for the industry as it put the export margin under pressure at a time when the prices had started correcting, taking cues from falling international coking coal prices.
On May 22, the government imposed a 15% export duty on a range of finished steel products in an attempt to curb spiking inflation. In other steel categories, an export duty of 15% has also been levied on pig iron. On the raw material side, the government has increased the export duty by 58% and above Fe grade iron ore fines and lumps from 30% to 50%.
Meanwhile, the Nifty Metal Index performed well in July. The Nifty Metal index has gained nearly 18% in the last month after losing around 4% in the previous year. Furthermore, the Nifty Metal Index outperformed the benchmark by 8% in the last one month.
Hindustan copper is the index's top gainer, up 23 per cent in the last month, followed by Tata Steel, up 21 per cent.
Other stocks that rose between 13 and 20 per cent during this period included Adani Enterprises, APL Apollo Tubes, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Vedanta, JSPL.
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