Closure of work at Gaddani: price of steel bars go up by Rs 15,000 per ton: ABAD

The market price of steel bars, used in construction industry, has gone up by Rs 15,000 per ton, following the suspension of commercial activities at the Gaddani ship breaking yards after recent fire incident that left dozens of people killed and injured.
Mohsin Sheikhani, Chairman of Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) expressed concern over the government decision of imposing section 144 and suspending all activities at the Gaddani ship breaking yards. He said the government instead of suspending commercial activities at the yard should provide safety measures for this important area, which is the main source of raw material for steel.
He said that the market price of steel bars used in construction industry went up by Rs 15,000 per ton due to closure of work at Gaddani ship breaking yards. He said that builders were now facing hardship to continue work on their ongoing projects due to shortage of steel in local market.
He said that most of the builders were on the verge of closure as the construction work on their projects came to halt, following the hike in the price of steel bar; adding that they had no other option but to raise the rates of apartments to meet the expenditure.
Moreover, he said that almost 20 thousand people connected with Gaddani Ship breaking yards directly or indirectly lost their jobs and demanded the government to immediately lift the section 144 from Gaddani Ship breaking yards and take measures to ensure safety of the workers to avoid such tragic incidents in future.