Nifty Metal bleeds 7% after govt hikes export duty on steel products

Shares of steel companies were reeling under pressure, falling up to 14 per cent on the BSE in Monday’s trade, after the government levied export duty on 11 iron and steel intermediates and key steel products. The government levied export duty of 15 per cent on almost all the major steel products (including stainless steel).

However, in order to reduce the overall cost of domestic production of steel products, the government slashed import duty on coking coal and anthracite from 2.5 per cent to zero. Meanwhile, import duties for coke or semi-coke and ferronickel were lowered too, from 5