ruben.maritime

DELHI 20 December – India's steel ministry has asked the finance ministry to remove the 5% import duty on junk ships to breathe life back into the dying shipbreaking industry. Imports of old ships into India attract a basic duty of 5% and countervailing duty (CVD) of 16%, exactly the same duty structure as for imports of finished steel. Bangladesh has cornered all large ships for breaking with a simple duty structure: a fixed duty of Tk1,000 takka ($14.45) and nil value-added tax (VAT), as against 10% basic duty and 15% VAT for finished steel imports. Pravin Nagarsheth, president of the Indian shipbreakers' association, said the Bangladesh government has helped local breakers with a viable duty regime, whereas India's duty structures have pushed the industry to the brink of complete shutdown. Bangladesh has demolished over 4.6MDWT during the first 11 months of 2006, way ahead of India's 1MDWT. Other shipbreaking nations including China (0.2MDWT) and Pakistan (0.2MDWT) have also seen tonnage drop drastically. "The Bangladesh shipbreaking industry has thrived on the country's increased demand for steel, and insufficient supply from primary steel producers," said an Alang-based breaker.

 

Etiquetas: international maritime affairs, shipbreaking, shipping business

This entry was posted on jueves, diciembre 21, 2006 at 10:00 a. m.. You can skip to the end and leave a response.