India on Wednesday imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of $60.87-$130.66 per tonne on low ash metallurgical coke imports for six months, Reuters reported, citing a government order.
The duty will be imposed for six months on imports from Australia, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia, the order said.
Import barriers on metallurgical coke raising steelmaking costs
As the country is ramping up steel production, capacity expansion, export competitiveness and downstream manufacturing are all central to that ambition. But a recent GTRI report flagged a policy contradiction that is making steel costlier to produce just as demand is rising.
Low ash metallurgical coke, a critical input that accounts for roughly 35–40% of steel production costs, is the heart of the issue. Amid the government’s moves to protect domestic steelmakers from cheap finished steel imports through safeguard duties, anti-dumping measures and quality control orders, it has simultaneously tightened access to this essential raw material.
The result of these curbs is a squeeze on steelmakers from the input side, pushing up costs, reducing efficiency and slowing investment.
In the last twelve months, the government has layered multiple trade controls on metallurgical coke to safeguard domestic industry. The import curbs emerged from a safeguard investigation in 2023.
The first imposition was followed by quantitative restrictions from January 2025, setting country-wise caps that limit imports to 1.4 million tonnes per half-year. The caps were then extended until December.
At the same time, an anti-dumping probe covering supplies from Australia, China, Colombia , Indonesia, Japan and Russia resulted in provisional duties ranging from $60 to $120 per tonne, imposed in November 2025.
Together, these measures restrict both how much coke can enter the country and how expensive it is once it does.
