Pakistan Steel Re-rolling Mills Association (PSRMA) has shown its concern over the hike in steel prices by local billet manufacturers.
“The price hike will affect the consumers and mega projects being announced by the government,” the association said in a statement yesterday.
Re-rolling mills are entirely dependent on ship breaking industry, the local melting industry, imported billets and re-rollable scrap.
The good quality local billets were being sold at Rs64,000 per tonne but after the budget 2014-15 announcement it was now selling at Rs71,000 per tonne, a rise of Rs7,000.
In the budget the import trade prices (ITP) of billets were increased by $25 per tonne to protect the local manufacturers. The taxes on imported billets work out to be at Rs12,362 per tonne while local billet manufacturers pay Rs6,400 per tonne even after the hike in taxes in the budget.
PSRMA said cent per cent protection being given to the manufacturers would lead to cartelisation as good quality billets would not be economical to import.
