Amreli Steels, Bolan Castings halt production amid flood disruptions

Amreli Steels and Bolan Castings have announced production shutdowns in separate notices to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday as the country continues to suffer from effects of the cataclysmic floods.

In its notice, Amreli Steels Limited communicated that “it has decided to shut down its plants for twenty days owing to low demand of steel rebars in the country due to unprecedented monsoon rains and flash floods witnessed across the country".

“Consequently, no manufacturing will take place from 31 August to 19 September 2022,” read the notice.

Amreli said resumption of operations or further extension in production suspension will be communicated accordingly.

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The development comes after floods caused by record-breaking torrential rains have devastated the north and south of the country, affecting over 33 million while causing large-scale infrastructural damage.

The flooding comes at a time when the economy remains engulfed in high inflation and depleting forex reserves. Government officials have said that devastation due to floods would cost the Pakistan economy at least $10 billion.

Meanwhile, in a separate notice to the PSX, Bolan Castings announced to shut down its production for 13 days owing to drop in demand for tractors castings.

“In view of the devastating flood, the road and farm infrastructures of the country have badly damaged due to which tractor deliveries have been adversely affected. This has in turn drastically reduced the demand for our tractors' castings,” said Bolan Castings in its notice.

The management of the company has, therefore, decided to temporarily halt the production activities of the company from September 01, 2022 to September 13, 2022.

On Tuesday, the auto sector companies including Indus Motor Company (IMC) and Millat Tractor Ltd (MTL) announced production shutdowns due to part shortages and delivery disruptions due to flood devastation across the country.