"The steel production, under the new policy evolved in consultation with all the stakeholders, has been set at 10 million tones by the year 2015 and 15 million tons by the year 2020". The Incharge Steel Segment of the Engineering Development Board S M Adil Shah revealed this while addressing the second Iron and Steel Conference-2010 organised by SKEN Business Management Service here on Monday.
He said that the country has a capacity of 4 million tons steel production per annum as compared to total demand of over 6 million tons. The steel production units are not fully utilised and functioning under capacity. As a result, the gap between demand and supply has been increased by 2.5-3.00 million tons, which is being met through import, he said and added that the steel demand could further increase because of industrialisation.
Adil Shah further said that the steel sector needs to be expanded for which huge money is required. Besides it has some pre-requisites including security of investment, security of foreign experts, availability of raw materials, uninterrupted supply of electricity.
He also said that steel sector is directly linked with the international market where iron and steel prices are on the rise and we have to follow the trend, as we can not stay in isolation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Muhammad Nasim, Director General National Equipment Education Centre highlighted the steel sector's importance and said that the production capacity of the Pakistan Steel Mills has been neglected during past. Its losses can be averted if a little attention is paid to enhance its production, he added.
Dr Shahzad Alam, Director General Pakistan Council of Industrial Research appreciated the role of Pakistan Foundry Association, Pakistan Steel Re-Rolling Association and Pakistan Steel Melters Association in the development of steel sector in the country.
Ali Akhtar Khan Consultant Tuwairqi Steel Mills (TSM) said that the TSM steel production would help minimise demand and supply gap, as it was implementing most modern system to enhance steel production. Meanwhile, S M Ansari, patron in chief of SKEN Business Management Service also spoke on the occasion.
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