American Metal Market recently reported about the potential impact of a U.S. ban on stainless-steel imports from Mumbai-based manufacturer Viraj Profiles.

AMM.com’s story (written by Grace Lavigne) explained about the International Trade Commission’s recent action that included the issuing of a limited exclusion and cease-and-desist order from Viraj, which stemmed from a theft of trade secrets complaint from Indiana-based Valbruna Slater Stainless. AMM.com reported the ITC, in a clarification on its ruling, noted Viraj lied about its document production, obstructed the judicial proceedings and intentionally destroyed evidence during the agency’s investigation.

AMM.com quoted industry distribution sources who said the ruling will result in a price increase, while others it said were “slightly more cautious about the ban’s potential impact.”

AMM.com reported U.S. imports of stainless-steel product from India, including ingot, flat-rolled, bars and wire, totaled 16,041 tonnes in the first quarter of 2016, down 7.4% in the same period last year, but up 15% in the comparable 2014 period.

Also in the report, the value of the quarterly imports dropped 22.3% to an average price of $2,679.97 per tonne in the same period a year earlier, and were down 15.8% compared to the first quarter of 2014.