Polymer export curbs unlikely

Tag : polyethylene scrap


IPF has been demanding export duty on polymers and lobbying forexcise duty cut on polymers and plastic products.

IPF president K K Seksaria said polymer prices rose almost 50 percent in three months, hitting small and medium players.

At a meeting chaired by the principal secretary of the departmentof chemicals and petrochemicals, C V Sampat, in Delhi today,polymer makers including Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and HaldiaPetrochemicals Ltd (HPL) promised to give priority to domesticbuyers.

India is a net importer of polyethelene and therefore technicallyexports are illogical. HPL exported around 60,000 tonnes ofpolyethylene of a grade not used in the domestic market, while itsold 280,000 tonnes locally.

RIL and HPL both produce and export polyethelene and polypropylene.RIL is setting up a 900,000t per annum plant at Jamnagar this year.

On the other hand, the petrochemicals department is consideringwhether to allow the import of post-industrial scrap and is talkingto the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) about this,Seksaria said.

The finance and petrochem ministries are also discussing a mid-yearcorrection of import duty on naphtha, re-imposed in the 2008budget.