The Alkali Manufacturers? Association of India (AMAI) has sought removal of six items from Chile?s request list in connection with the India-Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

The items that AMAI wants to be deleted are hydrochloric acid, disodium carbonate (dense), disodium carbonate (light), disodium carbonate (others) and polyvinyl chloride resins.

The AMAI said that chlorine is by-product of caustic soda and caustic potash industry. With each tonne of caustic produced, 0.89 T of chlorine is produced. Due to undeveloped chlorine derivative industry, the prices of chlorine in India are very low, sometimes even negative as compared to other countries where chlorine demand is not a problem.

?Chlorine cannot be transported over large distances and cannot be stored for long due to its hazardous nature. To maintain competitiveness, chlorine usage needs to be promoted and import of chlorine derivatives like PVC, HCl at zero duty should be discouraged. Therefore, PVC resins and others should be deleted from Chilean request list and present duty of 7.5 per cent should be retained,? the AMAI said in a letter to the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC).

Besides, the AMAI said that there is excess capacity of soda ash with domestic manufacturers and only about 75 per cent of capacity is being utilised because of cheap imports of soda ash from other countries.

?Hence, the existing duty structure should be retained for soda ash,? it said.

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