The price of pig iron has increased by 31 percent, or Rs 8,000 per ton to Rs 34,000 from Rs 26,000 per ton. It was due to a major defect in the coke oven batteries of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), sources in the Ministry of Industries and Production told Business Recorder here on Friday.
"We are witnessing Rs 8,000 per ton increase in pig iron price in the local market for the last two weeks as a result of technical defect in coke oven batteries of Pakistan Steel," they said, and added that pig iron production has gone down to 700 tons against an average of 3,500 tons per day, due to breakdown of coke oven batteries.
A representative of steel industry even went to the extent of saying that the Steel Mills "has stopped supply of pig iron". All metal goods manufacturing sectors are in a big trouble due to unannounced exit of Pakistan Steel from the market.
Automotive sector is expected to have a big knock from this shortage as waiting line for cars could get longer because of shortage of parts from vendors of iron and steel components. "Defect in Pakistan Steel coke oven batteries will affect cars production and also delay orders," sources added. They said that the impact could be minimised through import of pig iron, as duty on this item is 5 percent.
Asked if the government was considering duty-free import of pig iron to deal with the situation, they said that it would depend on how long the crisis persisted.
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