9 July 2024 – The Indian government has made ISI marking mandatory for certain stainless steel and aluminium products. As recently as June 2024, a possible case of customs fraud with fake BIS certificates for stainless steel in India caused a stir. And the driving force in the emerging markets index: Asia, with a whopping 16 per cent increase.
Emerging markets: Asia remains the international driving force
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has achieved a performance of twelve per cent since the beginning of the year. The driving force behind the emerging markets index: Asia, with a whopping 16 per cent gain.
Asia to remain international growth driver
Asia’s emerging and developing countries are likely to remain an international growth driver in the coming years, which could benefit companies and the stock markets there. The International Monetary Fund expects average annual economic growth of 4.6 per cent over the next five years. Analysts also expect profit growth of up to 22 per cent for Asian companies.
Europe: Spain and Switzerland ahead in corporate profits?
In Europe, profit growth of up to 20 per cent is currently expected in Spain and Switzerland in particular. Among the sectors, utilities (18 per cent) and the energy sector (around 13 per cent) could top the list of the highest profit growth. This could have a positive impact on the European markets.
India: ISI marking becomes mandatory for stainless steel and aluminium products
The Indian government has recently made ISI marking mandatory for stainless steel and aluminium kitchenware products. With the regulation, all stainless steel or aluminium utensils must bear the ISI marking, which indicates compliance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Failure to do so could result in severe penalties.
Huge customs fraud with stainless steel in India?
In most cases, such measures can be traced back to fraudulent actors. In June 2024, the Indian authorities recently uncovered a possible customs fraud involving falsified BIS declarations and faked mill test certificates for stainless steel imports, the extent of which could not be foreseen at the time and is currently being investigated.
Suspicion: thousands of tonnes of stainless steel affected
According to market reports, several thousand tonnes of flat-rolled stainless steel are said to have been fraudulently misdeclared and smuggled past Indian customs.
Such incidents have also occurred in Europe and the United States in the past. The European customs authorities and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as well as the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) are taking restrictive action against such falsely declared imports.
Therefore, whether you are an importer or not, think twice about whether you want to support such actors or not. Because in the end you are guaranteed to fall back on your feet.
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Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
