The Fight Over Tyre Imports Gets Nasty

CHENNAI: Are tyre imports into India going up or coming down? Tyre companies and tyre dealers are locked in a vicious tit-for-tat with both sides claiming they have the right data. Tyre companies say the data shows that truck and bus radial imports are up 60%. Dealers say data shows imports are already down 29% and there is no need for anti-dumping duty on imports. Now the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and All India Tyre Dealers' Federation (AITDF) are down to calling each other names.

It all started when AITDF released data suggesting that that import of passenger car radial tyre has seen a 53% drop in March 2016 compared to December 2015 and a 57% drop compared to the previous high in June 2015. This, said the AITDF report, comes on the heels of a 29.25% drop in the import of truck/bus radial tyres. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the passenger car radial imports in the quarter ending March 2016 over the quarter ending December 2015 have come down by 32.38%.

Now ATMA has hit back saying the data is wrong and misleading. Rajiv Budhraja, director general, ATMA, said, "AITDF though claiming to be a representative of tyre dealers has been, in fact, acting at the behest of tyre importers as has been always campaigning in favour of tyre imports and against domestic manufacturing. As much as 95% of truck & bus radial (TBR) tyres are imported in India by independent tyre importers who are the direct beneficiary of dumped tyres from China. They have mixed up TBR and passenger car radial (PCR) import to make a point and create confusion."



According to ATMA, for the second year running TBR imports are up by more than 60%. "AITDF's statement that TBR import has gone down is factually incorrect and a vicious attempt to deflect the government's attention from a serious issue," said Budhraja.


Singh meanwhile maintains that the data discrepancy is due to the fact that AITDF is calculating month-on-month while ATMA is calculating year-on-year. Also the radial import is restricted to a single category (10.00-20") whereas the other categories for light commercial vehicles and ICVs (like 8.25-16", 7.25-20", 9.00-20" and 11.00-20") is entirely serviced by domestic manufacturers. "There are months when tyre imports will go up like it will be higher in April than in March 2016," said Singh. "But that's because of several factors - summer is peak season for tyre demand and the truck market is growing in double digits so there is a demand supply shortfall which is being met with imports. We are only voicing the interests of consumers that tyre companies should either lower prices to global levels or allow imports to compete in a level playing field. You can't have your cake and eat it too," he added.

The AITDF report announced last week claimed that import of both PCR and TBR are down sharply. "AITDF has duly tabulated the import data of PCR import from China PR for replacement market for the period of January 2015 to March 2016 and it is very much evident that there has been no surge in import of truck and bus radial tyres into India as is being shouted by domestic tyre industry," SP Singh, convenor, AITDF had quoted in the report. "The trend has been up and down and there is no sign of any dumping and related injury to domestic industry."


ATMA, for its part, says that TBR imports have actually jumped 60 and 64% in FY 2014-15 and FY2015-16 respectively. Quoting customs data, ATMA stated that TBR imports went up from 7.8 lakh units in FY15 to 12.8 lakh units in FY16. In the last two years, TBR import has gone up by 2.5 times. From an average per month import of about 40,000 units in FY14 and 65,000 units in FY15, the TBR import figure has crossed one lakh units per month in FY16, states ATMA.China's share in TBR import in India has more than doubled to 90% in 2015-16 from 40% in 2013-14. Chinese TBR import has come to account for 30%-40% of replacement demand for TBR in India.

 

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rupee Trades Higher At 66.44 Against Us Dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened against the US dollar ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy outcome. This is the second session when the rupee is trading higher.

At 2.04pm, the home currency was trading at 66.44, up 0.12% from its previous close of 66.52. The rupee opened at 66.55 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 66.44 and 66.60, respectively.

India’s benchmark Sensex index fell 0.18% or 47.60 points to 26,053.53 points. So far this year, Sensex is down 0.16%.

Most Asian currencies were trading higher. Malaysian ringgit was up 0.4%, South Korean won 0.24%, Japanese yen 0.18%, Singapore dollar 0.18% and Philippines peso 0.13%. However, China offshore spot was down 0.05%

The Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will meet and announce their monetary policy decisions. Analysts expect that the BoJ meeting on Thursday will be reactionary and dependent on the stance laid out at the Fed on Wednesday.

Other data this week include first-quarter growth figures for the UK, the US and the Eurozone, issued on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively, Reuters reported.

India’s 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.46%, as compared with its Tuesday’s close of 7.472%.

So far this year, the rupee gained 0.43%, while foreign institutional investors bought $1.61 billion from the local equity market and sold $312 million in debt markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.356, down 0.23% from its previous close of 94.573.

 

Source :livemint.com

India Faces Flak At Wto For Duty On Steel Imports

 

India’s recent decision to impose minimum import price on certain steel items has been opposed by Japan, the EU, Korea, Australia, and Canada at the World Trade Organisation, all of whom have alleged it goes against multi-lateral trade rules.

The countries also criticised safeguard duties imposed by India on steel recently.

While India is yet to formally respond to the complaints, a Commerce Ministry official told BusinessLine that a minimum import price (MIP) was a short-term measure and was generally removed as soon as the deluge in imports subsided.

“There is over capacity in the steel industry worldwide. Many countries are adopting protectionist measures to stop import of the metal. Given the sharp increase in steel import in India, the Centre deemed it appropriate to impose an MIP as a temporary measure (maximum for six months) to check cheap inflows,” the official said.

In its representation at the Goods Council meeting of the WTO, Japan said the MIPs were having a significant adverse impact on exports from the country and were clearly inconsistent with GATT rules. Canada, Australia, the EU and Chinese Taipei also backed Japan’s demand that India should withdraw the MIP.

New Delhi imposed an MIP, ranging from $341 to $752 per tonne, on 173 steel products in February.

It was in response to a surge in steel imports in 2015-16, which increased 25.6 per cent to 11.71 million tonnes (mt), compared to 9.32 mt in 2014-15 in the previous year.
Safeguard duty opposed

At the recent Goods Council meeting of the WTO, Japan and the EU also raised concerns on the safeguard duties (penal import duties to protect domestic industry against import surges) imposed on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products last year by India.

The representative from the EU pointed out that safeguards are one of the most trade-restrictive tools because they apply to imports from all countries, and that India should have instead initiated an anti-dumping or countervailing investigation on the targeted goods. India, however, believes that it is well within its rights to apply the duties.

“The WTO allows members to impose safeguard duties and we strictly followed prescribed rules to determine safeguard duties on steel products,” the official said.
User industry worried

While the domestic steel industry is happy with the protection accorded to it by the Centre against cheap imports, the user industry, which includes engineering products manufacturers, is worried.

High price of domestic steel is one of the reasons pulling engineering exports from India down, according to the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC). Engineering exports contracted 11 per cent in March.

“Policies like severe import restrictions on steel, a crucial raw material for the engineering products, are aggravating the problems for the engineering exporters,” according to TS Bhasin, Chairman of EEPC.

 

Source :.thehindubusinessline.com

Isuzu Motors To Export Vehicles From Indian Plant

Chennai, April 27 (IANS) Japanese automobile maker Isuzu Motors will export vehicles from its Indian plant in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh besides automotive components, senior officials said on Wednesday.

The company's 50,000 units per annum plant was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu when he drove the first India made D-Max pickup model out of the assembly line.

"India is a strategic market for Isuzu Motors. We will be exporting out of India in the future as this plant will be a key manufacturing hub for our global operations," said Masanori Katayama, president, Isuzu Motors.

"Isuzu Motors has earmarked Rs.3,000 crore investment for the Indian project. Initially the local content will be around 70 percent and the percentage will be increased gradually," Hiroyasu Miura, chairman, Isuzu Motors India, told the gathering.

He said the company was in India for the past four years studying the market.

Speaking at the inaugural, Naidu said the government had agreed to the request of Isuzu Motors to extend the mega investment incentives to the component units to be set up in Sri City while exempting road tax to the company vehicles.

Eight component suppliers of Isuzu Motors will set up their operations at Sri City, he added.

He said Sri City has attracted 120 companies of which 80 are operational now.

According to Miura, the plant's production capacity can be increased to 120,000 units.

The bookings for the Isuzu branded vehicles will soon start followed by deliveries across India. According to the company, D-Max V-Cross is India's first adventure utility vehicle.

 

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 

India Likely To Become Net Importer Of Sugar As Drought Dries Fields

 India is likely to become a net importer of sugar in 2016/17 as back-to-back drought years dry irrigation channels and ravage cane fields, with output in the country's biggest producing state seen dropping over 40 per cent.

That would mark the first time the nation has been a net importer of the sweetener in four years, with the switch likely to support global prices that have already been rising this year.

It would also give rival producers such as Pakistan, Thailand and Brazil the chance to boost shipments from their ports.

"India will need to import next year due to a production shortfall," Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association (BSMA), told Reuters.

"Drought has severely affected cane plantations in Maharashtra. The government should stop exports now to reduce import requirements in the next season."

The El Nino weather phenomenon, which brings dry conditions to many regions, has stoked the worst drought in decades in some parts of India, with thousands of small-scale sugar cane growers in Maharashtra state failing to cultivate crops for the next marketing year, starting October.

"Even for drinking water we are relying on water tankers. It wasn't possible for anyone from our village to cultivate cane," said Baban Swami, a farmer standing in a parched field in the Latur district of Maharashtra, around 500 km southeast of Mumbai.

That could help push overall output below consumption for the first time in seven years.

"Next year, Maharashtra's production could drop below 5 million tonnes. This may pull down the total output to 22.5 million tonnes," said B.B. Thombre, president of the Western India Sugar Mills Association. Next season's local consumption is pegged at around 26 million tonnes.

The world's biggest sugar consumer is set to churn out 25.7 million tonnes in the current season, with Maharashtra contributing 8.5 million tonnes. Indian mills are contracted to export nearly 1.5 million tonnes this season.

"I think there is a possibility we could see imports to India next year," said Tracey Allen, a commodity analyst at Rabobank in London.

Indian imports have in the past boosted global sugar prices, traders said.

"The global supply deficit is going to rise with the Indian shortfall. This could trigger a rally, although a lot depends on how much sugar India needs to import," said a Singapore-based dealer with a global trading firm. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

Meanwhile, analysts were divided over whether India would cut its 40-per cent import duty on raw sugar.

Some said mills would ask for the tax to remain unchanged so domestic prices would rise further, while others said the food ministry could push for a duty-cut to relieve inflationary pressures.

"Duty free imports are required to arrest price rises,"

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com