Aluminum Industry To Govt: Promote Local Extrusion Products

Aluminum extrusion products include furniture, door knobs, handles, hangers, and others, used directly by consumers.

“The Chinese government asked its [aluminum] producers to make end-user products. Its exports in this category are worth US$ 200 billion, compared to US$ 170 million for India. When you manufacture such products, you also support the glass and rubber industries, and other ancillary sectors,” said Jitendra Chopra, president of the Aluminum Extrusion Manufacturers Association of India (ALEMAI), while addressing media persons in Gandhinagar.

He added that India still has a long way to go before it can become a manufacturing hub for Aluminum extrusion consumer products.

ALEMAI is organising a three-day expo, ALUMEX India 2025, beginning September 11 at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. 

Trump Tariffs, Visas For Chinese Workers

Chopra said that during the tariff war with the US, the latter had levied a 50 per cent import duty on aluminum extrusion imports from India, which was later reduced to 10 per cent.

He also drew attention to the lopsided duty structure of import duty in India. “Both the extrusion material and the end-user consumer products carry an import duty of 7.5 per cent. While the duty on intermediate products should be reduced to zero, the duty on end-user consumer products should be raised. This will give a boost to manufacturing in India,” he said. 

Chopra also said that machines used to manufacture these products are mostly made in China. Chinese professionals are needed for maintenance and various learning sessions. However, visa curbs on Chinese professionals prevent them from coming to India, and maintenance takes a hit.

“We request that the government give visas to these officials based on our recommendation letters. Otherwise, manufacturing in India will take a hit,” he said.

Shortage of Aluminum Scrap

There is a global rush among countries to become manufacturing hubs of extrusion products, for which scrap metal is an important raw material. So, these countries have stopped exporting raw materials, which has led to a significant drop in imports into India. 

Chopra said that foreign carmakers were importing scrap from their home countries, avoiding the use of raw materials from India. “When we drew the government’s attention to this, it mandated that within two years, all carmakers have to start using at least 75 per cent raw material available in India,” he said.