Downstream plastic pipe manufacturers in India have urged the government to suspend the investigation of the proposal to levy a safeguard duty on the import of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin from Japan, a leading exporter to India.
They fear that the safeguard duty levy would make PVC resin costlier and also worsen the supply of this key input for which India remained import-dependent to the extent of nearly 60 percent.
The downstream pipe manufacturers want the government to let the market stabilize, which was disturbed in the last two years of the Covid pandemic, before considering any restrictions on PVC resin import.
Categorized primarily under the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), these pipes manufacturers would come under severe financial stress in case the raw material prices go up in a distressed end-product demand environment.
PVC resin prices have globally collapsed in the last one-year after rising abnormally high in October last year. Data compiled by Polymerupdate. The reaction from PVC pipe manufacturers came after the Ministry of Commerce and Industry sought responses from the PVC value chain on the initiation of the Safeguard Duty Investigation.
