He, however, ruled out an outright ban on iron ore exports, as being demanded by steel producers like Tata Steel."There is no proposal to consider banning iron ore," Pandey said on the sidelines of the "blowing-in" ceremony of a blast furnace at Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant.
With the commissioning of the blast furnace, Tata Steel Jamshedpur plant's annual capacity has gone up by 1.8 mt to 7 mt tn.
Asked whether government is considering removing the recently-imposed duty on steel exports, Pandey evaded a direct reply and said: "These (export duty on some steel products) are short-term measures."
To up local supplies and ease inflationary pressure, on May 12, the government had notified 15% export duty on products like pig iron, ferrous waste of iron and steel, iron ingots, semi-finished iron or non-alloy steel products.
Speaking at the same event on the price trend, Pandey said while domestic prices of steel have started softening in recent times following steps to control prices, global rates are still on the rise.
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"While steel prices in our country are showing a declining trend, globally, they are going up," Pandey said.
Earlier this month, bowing to pressure from the government, steel companies had agreed to cut prices by up to 4,000 rupees per 1 tn. They had also agreed to hold the price line for a couple of months.
Rollback of steel export duty
India may notify rollback of export duty on some steel products next week, a senior government official said today."The rollback is likely to include flat as well as high-value steel products," the official said.
The government is also "seriously considering" imposing 15 per cent ad valorem duty on export of iron ore as a measure to mop-up revenues in lieu of fiscal concessions announced to curb inflation, the official said.
In Jamshedpur at a Tata Steel event, Steel Secretary RS Pandey said today the imposition of export duty on steel products was only a "temporary measure".
To up local supplies and ease inflationary pressure, on May 12, the government notified 15 per cent export duty on products such as pig iron, ferrous waste of iron and steel, iron ingots, semi-finished iron or non-alloy steel products.
An export cess of 10 per cent on flat rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, bars and rods, hot-rolled coils of iron and non-alloy steel was also imposed.
Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, plated or coated with zinc will attract an export duty of 5%, the notification had said.