Indian Steel Ministry Proposes Quality Control Order on 13 Additional Products

In the letter dated 4th Apr’19, Ministry of Steel intends to implement Quality Control Order on 13 additional product standards.

The order may be called as Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2019. It shall come into force on the date specified in Official Gazette and shall apply to steel products but not to products meant for exports. However the date of implementation has not been declared yet.

What is the order all about ? It is stated that every Steel and Steel products specified in this order shall bear the Standard Mark under a license from the Bureau. The sub-standard or defective steel and steel products, which do not conform to the specified standard, shall be disposed off as scrap as per the scheme of testing and inspection of Bureau of Indian Standard.

Which all 13 additional steel products are listed for BIS ? BIS has identified 13 additional steel products includes additional grades of hot-rolled steel in coil, sheet and strip form, structural steel, carbon alloy bright steel bar, steel for hardening and tempering, certain grades of automotive steel, as well as semi-finished products such as billet, ingot, bloom and slab.

What can be its impact ? Domestic and global steel producers will have to acquire quality control license (BIS) if they want to import above mentioned products to India. So it might be a matter of concern for the foreign mills who do not currently have BIS certification and acquiring these licences is an extended process requiring physical verification of products in steel mills and India-based laboratories.

Increase in steel imports to India is giving tough competition to domestic steel producers over cheaper imports.Thus Indian steel producers requested Steel Ministry to impose quality control restrictions on addition steel products to reduce imports.

India’s finished steel imports stood at 7.84 MnT (alloy/stainless steel+non alloy) in FY’19 rose by 5% as compared to 7.48 MnT in FY’18.