The government has imposed anti-dumping duty on color coated steel products imported from China and European Union.

The duty will be effective for six months, said a notification issued by Ministry of Finance.

The effective duty rate would be the price difference between the official rate fixed at $849 per tonne and the landed value of the product, provided the landed value is lower than $849 per tonne, it said.

The domestic steel companies have been affected by import of certain colour coated steel products from China and European Union much below the normal value and the products are being dumped to cause injury to Indian steel producers, it said.

The product covered under the anti-dumping include pre-painted, colour coated flat steels in coils or not in coils, excluding plates of 6mm thickness or more, it said.

H Shivram Krishnan, Director (Commercial), Essar Steel India, said the provisional confirmation of anti-dumping duty on colour coated steel by Director General of Anti-Dumping upholds the domestic industry concern of predatory priced imports from China. The anti-dumping measures are in line with the process and norms laid down by the WTO, he added.

With rising concern over depleting financial health of steel companies, the government had imposed a minimum import price on 173 steel products ranging between $341 and $752 per tonne for a period of six months on February 5, 2016.

Subsequently, in December the list was trimmed to cover 19 products with lowered MIP range of $643-$752 a tonne till February 4.

India has colour coated sheet production capacity of about 1.9 million tonne a year and the domestic consumption is about one million tonnes a year, according to industry estimates.

Domestic colour sheet consumption is growing at the rate of 15-16 per cent over the last few years with growing demand from automotive and white good manufacturers.

Meanwhile, importers have expressed concern over protective measures such as minimum import price and anti-dumping duty particularly when the imports are falling and domestic demand is tapering, said a Mumbai-based trader.