CHAPTER 72

Iron and steel

NOTES
1. In this Chapter and, in the case of Notes (d), (e) and (f) throughout this Schedule, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

(a) Pig Iron:
Iron-carbon alloys not usefully malleable, containing more than 2% by weight of carbon and which may contain by weight one or more other elements within the following limits:

- not more than 10% of chromium

- not more than 6% of manganese

- not more than 3% of phosphorus

- not more than 8% of silicon

- a total of not more than 10% of other elements.

(b) Spiegeleisen:
Iron-carbon alloys containing by weight more than 6% but not more than 30% of manganese and otherwise conforming to the specification at (a) above.

(c) Ferro-alloys:
Alloys in pigs, blocks, lumps or similar primary forms, in forms obtained by continuous casting and also in granular or powder forms, whether or not agglomerated, commonly used as an additive in the manufacture of other alloys or as de-oxidants, de-sulphurising agents or for similar uses in ferrous metallurgy and generally not usefully malleable, containing by weight 4% or more of the element iron and one or more of the following:

- more than 10% of chromium

- more than 30% of manganese

- more than 3% of phosphorus

- more than 8% of silicon

- a total of more than 10% of other elements, excluding carbon, subject to a maximum content of 10% in the case of copper.

(d) Steel :
Ferrous materials other than those of heading 7203 which (with the exception of certain types produced in the form of castings) are usefully malleable and which contain by weight 2% or less of carbon. However, chromium steels may contain higher proportions of carbon.

(e) Stainless steel:
Alloy steels containing, by weight, 1.2% or less of carbon and 10.5% or more of chromium, with or without other elements.

(f) Other alloy steel :
Steels not complying with the definition of stainless steel and containing by weight one or more of the following elements in the proportion shown:

- 0.3% or more of aluminium

- 0.0008% or more of boron

- 0.3% or more of chromium

- 0.3% or more of cobalt

- 0.4% or more of copper

- 0.4% or more of lead

- 1.65% or more of manganese

- 0.08% or more of molybdenum

- 0.3% or more of nickel

- 0.06% or more of niobium

- 0.6% or more of silicon

- 0.05% or more of titanium

- 0.3% or more of tungsten (wolfram)

- 0.1% or more of vanadium

- 0.05% or more of zirconium

- 0.1% or more of other elements (except sulphur, phosphorus,carbon and nitrogen), taken separately.

(g) Remelting scrap ingots of iron and steel:
Products roughly cast in the form of ingots without feeder-heads or hot tops, or of pigs, having obvious surface faults and not complying with the chemical composition of pig iron, spiegeleisen or ferro-alloys.

(h) Granules:
Products of which less than 90% by weight passes through a sieve with a mesh aperture of 1 mm and of which 90% or more by weight passes through a sieve with a mesh aperture of 5 mm.

(ij) Semi-finished products:
Continuous cast products of solid section, whether or not subjected to primary hot-rolling; and other products of solid sections, which have not been further worked than subjected to primary hot-rolling or roughly shaped by forging, including blanks for angles, shapes or sections. These products are not presented in coils.

(k) Flat-rolled products :
Rolled products of solid rectangular (other than square) cross-section, which do not conform to the definition at (ij) above in the form of:

- coils of successively superimposed layers, or

- straight lengths, which if of a thickness less than 4.75 mm, are of width measuring at least ten times the thickness or if of a thickness of 4.75 mm or more are of a width which exceeds 150 mm and measures at least twice the thickness.

Flat-rolled products include those with patterns in relief derived directly from rolling (for example, grooves, ribs, chequers, tears, buttons and lozenges) and those, which have been perforated, corrugated or polished, provided that they do not thereby assume the character of articles or products of other headings.

Flat-rolled products of a shape other than rectangular or square, of any size, are to be classified as products of a width of 600 mm or more, provided that they do not assume the character of articles or products of other headings.

(l) Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils:
Hot-rolled products in irregularly wound coils, which have a solid crosssection in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles, or other convex polygons (including “flattened circles” and “modified rectangles”, of which two opposite sides are convex arcs, the other two sides being straight, of equal length and parallel). These products may have indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process (reinforcing bars and rods).

(m) Other bars and rods:
Products which do not conform to any of the definitions at (ij), (k) or (l) above or to the definition of wire, which have a uniform solid cross- section along their whole length in the shape of circles, segments of circles, ovals, rectangles (including squares), triangles or other convex polygons (including “flattened circles” and “modified rectangles”, of which two opposite sides are convex arcs, the other two sides being straight, of equal length and parallel). The products may:

- have indentations, ribs, grooves or other deformations produced during the rolling process (reinforcing bars and rods);

- be twisted after rolling.

(n) Angles, shapes and sections:
Products having a uniform solid cross-section along their whole length which do not conform to any of the definitions at (ij), (k), (l) or (m) above or to the definition of wire. Chapter 72 does not include products of heading 7301 or 7302.

(o) Wire:
Cold-formed products in coils, of any uniform solid cross-section along their whole length, which do not conform to the definition of flat-rolled products.

(p) Hollow drill bars and rods:
Hollow bars and rods of any cross-section, suitable for drills, of which the greatest external dimension of the cross-section exceeds 15 mm but does not exceed 52 mm, and of which the greatest internal dimension does not exceed one half of the greatest external dimension. Hollow bars and rods of iron or steel not conforming to this definition are to be classified in heading 7304.

2. Ferrous metals clad with another ferrous metal are to be classified as products of the ferrous metal predominating by weight.

3. Iron or steel products obtained by electrolytic deposition, by pressure casting or by sintering are to be classified, according to their form, their composition and their appearance, in the headings of this Chapter appropriate to similar hot-rolled products.

4. In relation to the products of this Chapter, the process of drawing or redrawing a bar, rod, wire rod, round bar or any other similar article, into bright bar, shall amount to "manufacture".

(Note 4. has been inserted vide Union Budget 2006-2007 -Finance Bill)

SUB-HEADING NOTES

1. In this Chapter, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

(a) Alloy pig iron:

Pig iron containing, by weight, one or more of the following elements in the specified proportions:

- more than 0.2% of chromium

- more than 0.3% of copper

- more than 0.3% of nickel

- more than 0.1% of any of the following elements:

aluminium, molybdenum, titanium, tungsten (wolfram), vanadium.

(b) Non-alloy free-cutting steel:

Non-alloy steel containing, by weight, one or more of the following elements in the specified proportions:

- 0.08% or more of sulphur

- 0.1% or more of lead

- more than 0.05% of selenium

- more than 0.01% of tellurium

- more than 0.05% of bismuth.

(c) Silicon-electrical steel:

Alloy steels containing, by weight, at least 0.6% but not more than 6% of silicon and not more than 0.08% of carbon. They may also contain by weight not more than 1% of aluminium but no other element in a proportion that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel.

(d) High speed steel:
Alloy steels containing, with or without other elements, at least two of the three elements molybdenum, tungsten and vanadium with a combined content by weight of 7% or more, 0.6% or more of carbon and 3 to 6% of chromium.

(e) Silico-manganese steel:
Alloy steels containing by weight:

- not more than 0.7% of carbon

- 0.5% or more but not more than 1.9% of manganese; and

- 0.6% or more but not more than 2.3% of silicon, but no other element in a proportion that would give the steel the characteristics of another alloy steel.

2. For the classification of ferro-alloys in the sub-headings of heading 7202, the following rule should be observed:

A ferro-alloy is considered as binary and classified under the relevant sub-heading (if it exists) if only one of the alloy elements exceeds the minimum percentage laid down in Chapter Note 1(c); by analogy, it is considered respectively as ternary or quaternary if two or three alloy elements exceed the minimum percentage.

For the application of this rule the unspecified “other elements” referred to in Chapter Note 1(c) must each exceed 10% by weight.

3. In relation to flat-rolled products of this Chapter, the process of hardening or tempering shall amount to ‘manufacture’.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE

Skelp means hot-rolled narrow strip of width not exceeding 600 mm with rolled (square, slightly round or bevelled) edge.