NEW DELHI: Industry body Assocham on Wednesday said the domestic steel industry will lose credibility as well as market share internationally if steel export is banned.

"It is ironical that we continue to export freely the very important raw materials 'iron ore' with a nominal export tax and the end-product 'steel' is being banned from export," Assocham President Venugopal Dhoot said.

Currently, 6-8 per cent of the country's steel production is exported. A significant part of steel exports consist of products which are not of use or are in surplus in the domestic market.

Further, Dhoot said export markets are established with considerable efforts and involve long-term investment. "If exports are banned abruptly, international buyers will seek other markets and India will lose its share. It will again take years for us to regain the markets," he said.

The chamber said a blanket ban on export of steel items would put a strain on the manufacturers who have imported and established steel mills to convert raw steel into exportable product.

The government has withdrawn incentives on export of primary steel products as part of measures to curb inflation, which touched 7.41 per cent on the week ended March 29. Exporters have not been given reasonable time to adjust their exports to these withdrawals, the chamber said.

Urging the government to review the iron-ore export policy, Dhoot said high and medium-grade iron ore reserves would not last more than 19 years, even if exports of these grades are frozen at the current level.

Source : PTI