India takes steps to curb cement import from Pakistan KARACHI, The Indian government has imposed some 12 per cent duties on cement import, which a primary aim to curb cement import from Pakistan, industry sources said. Sources told that the Indian government for the last one-month had been taking measures to reduce cement import, particularly from Pakistan.

In a such move, it reduced excise duty on the domestically manufactured cement by Indian rupees 8 per bag on December 8, 2008 to enable the local product compete the imported cement. Although the Indian government has imposed duty on import of several items, the duty on cement imports is seen as a deliberate hedge against the Pakistani cement flooding its markets.

"India has restored certain duties on import of cement, such as TMT bars, zinc and Ferro-alloys, which were removed earlier to overcome inflation. It claims that the duties have been restored only to protect domestic companies," they added.

Indian government imposed eight per cent countervailing duty and four per cent customs duty on import of cement, which is largely imported from Pakistan. Sources said that Pakistani exporters were exporting cement to India at lowest cost and with the imposition of cumulatively 12 per cent duties on cement export to Indian will become inviable.

The newly imposed duty is some eight per cent higher than the previous one, as earlier only four per cent import duty was on cement import, which has been removed on April 3, 2007 to fulfil local demand through import from neighbouring countries including Pakistan.

Sources said that Pakistani cement exporters are already paying some Indian Rs 2 per tonnes BIS fees on the export of cement and at present some 12 Pakistani cement manufacturers were exporting cement to India. With recent duties, Pakistani cement price in the Indian markets will surge by Indian Rs 24 per bag to Rs 220-230.

Whereas, the locally produced cement is already available at Indian Rs 220-230 per bag. Earlier, Pakistani cement was available at Indian Rs 210-215 per bag, they added. At present India is facing enormous cement shortage, which has provided a huge advantage to Pakistani cement companies to export in bulk with large buying orders in hands, they said.

According to the statistics of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), the country has exported 786,672 tonnes of cement to the India during the last fiscal year.

Until now, cement export to India was gradually increasing with a growth of some 206 per cent during the first four months of current fiscal year 2008-09. Pakistan has exported some 294,120 tonnes of cement during July-November 2009 as compared to some 96,236 tonnes in the same period of the last fiscal year 2008, showing a rise of 197,884 tonnes.

Pakistani exporters explored the Indian market in 2007 and met all conditions to begin export cement to India. However, later Pakistani exporters found difficulties of quality certification, a primary condition the Indian authorities laid down, which they consequently obtained from Bureau of Indian Standard by paying huge fee.