The Indian government has waived import duties on some key steel-making raw materials like coal and imposed the export duties on iron ore and steel products. The new duty regime has come into effect on the night of May 22, according to a government notification.

The Indian government reduced import duty on ferro-nickel, coking coal from 2.5 percent to nil and that on coke and semi-coke from 5 percent to nil to bring down cost of production of steel mills and thereby soften finished product prices.

On the other hand, the government hiked export duty on iron ore and concentrates to 50 percent and imposed a new export levy on pellets at 45 percent. New export duty of 15 percent has also been imposed on pig iron and spiegeleisen in pigs, blocks, or other primary formats; flat-rolled products of different kinds, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, plated and coated; bars and rods; stainless steel.