GIHL seeks tariff protection for Nat’l Steel

Global Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. (GIHL) wants the Philippine government to provide some form of tariff protection for National Steel Corp. (NSC), the mothballed steel plant recently acquired by the Indian conglomerate.

"We are looking for some support from the government," GIHL chairman Pramod Mittal said.

He pointed out that in India, "the steel industry has some kind of direct and indirect protection," while some are in the form of tariff and other import duties, others are through floor price or quantity quota, he added.

"Every country has some form of arrangement wherein they give protection to domestic producers who get an unwanted business environment," Mittal said.

However, Mittal admitted that they are still studying how much tariff they would need to be able to rehabilitate NSC before facing competition.

The GIHL chairman stressed though that their request for tariff protection was aimed at being able to have a stable business environment for NSC while it is being rehabilitated.

He said: "We want to have a stable business environment so we can mitigate our risk of uncertainty of market price."

Mittal pointed out that the steel industry is easily affected by the demand and supply situation in the market.