India levies import duty on South Korean FeMo

Market: Metals
11/10/23

India has imposed a safeguard duty on imports of ferro-molybdenum from South Korea for two years, seeking to alleviate pressure on domestic converters.

Imports of ferro-molybdenum from South Korea will attract a 5pc duty from 10 October 2023 to 9 October 2024, then 3.75pc until 10 October 2025.

India's director-general of trade remedies first recommended the duty in late May after an investigation launched in September 2022 at the request of the country's ferro-alloy producers association. The agency found that duty-exempt ferro-molybdenum imports from South Korea under the countries' free trade agreement has caused underutilisation of domestic production capacity and serious injury to the industry.

Indian converters expect the new duty to help them increase their market share in the near term, but said it is too soon to say whether that will enable them to expand production capacity — especially with demand from India's steel industry so low.

South Korea is India's largest overseas supplier of ferro-molybdenum. India imported 2,010t of ferro-molybdenum in January-July, with South Korea supplying 1,238t of this, according to customs data (see table).

India's imports from South Korea were down by 11.5pc on the year in January-July, reflecting a slowdown in bookings amid uncertainty about whether duty would be imposed and weak demand from the steel industry.

Some traders now expect India to import more ferro-molybdenum from Thailand, which is still exempt from duty. Imports from Thailand hit 120.88t in January-July, compared with zero a year earlier.

By Samil Surendran

Indian imports of ferro-molybdenum				t
Origin	Jul-22	Jul-23	Jan-Jul 2022	Jan-Jul 2023

South Korea	187	212	1,399	1,238
China	60	45	181	83
Thailand	0	0	0	121
Others	70	100	125	568
Total	317	357	1,706	2,010
— India customs data

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