Bowing down to the demands of downstream copper producers, Indian government slashed customs duty on copper scrap imports to 2.5pc from 5pc in the national budget for the financial year 2022.
Copper alloys and downstream manufacturers had demanded a reduction in customs duty on the copper cathode and scrap to 2.5pc. Following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement, Deepak Sanghi, Secretary of Indian Non-Ferrous Metals Manufacturers Association told Davis Index, “We at INFMMA, welcome the decision of slashing down the import duty to 2.5pc. It is a major relief to the secondary copper producers as the imports of downstream products were affecting us to a greater extent. With this change in place, the imports of downstream copper products will go down to 20pc from the present 40-50pc.”
Sanghi said India roughly imports 200,000mt of copper scrap each year from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the US. INFMMA has several members across India who are engaged in manufacturing of copper secondary and fabricating products such as copper & copper alloys sheets, strips and foils (copper flat-rolled) and drawn/extruded products such as tubes, pipes and rods. It is estimated that the annual turnover of INFMMA members is close to Rs4,000crore with major exports to ASEAN, Middle East, US, and SAARC regions and Europe.
The secondary copper manufacturers had voiced that downstream producers are badly hit due to inverted duty structure created by duty-free imports prevalent in ASEAN countries, Nepal treaty, SAARC treaty and Korea CEPA. Many secondary copper producers are forced to shut or lower production amid slow downstream demand.