The LCCI acting president Shahzad Ali Malik has called upon the government to bring down import duty on steel raw material to 5 percent in order to overcome the crisis arising out of repeated increase in steel products.
In a press statement, Shahzad Malik said that in the wake of increase in prices of steel billets from Rs 23,500 to Rs 28,250 the engineering sector, particularly auto part makers, has suspended its production or has reduced its production to half.
Majority of vendors in this sector have closed down their operations rendering thousands of workers jobless.
He urged the government to reduce the import duty on steel raw materials to five percent to offset the current price increase.
He said that India has reduced the import duties on steel products to save her engineering sector, Pakistan should also follow the suit in the greater interest of the country.
Moreover, the government should also bring pricing mechanism under its control in order to stem the sudden price hike in the steel products, he added.