Association of Builders and Developers (Abad) Chairman Babar Mirza Chughtai has urged Federal Minister for Industries and Production Jehangir Khan Tareen, to device a mechanism to keep a constant watch on the rising trend in the prices of iron and steel in the country. In a letter to the minister, he thanked him for taking note of the Abad's call for the government's intervention to bring about reversal in the prices of iron and steel bars, which had gone up sky-high, bringing construction activities to a grinding halt.
Taking note of the situation, the minister announced reduction in customs tariff on the import of steel scrap by 25 percent and directed the Pakistan Steel to immediately import 100,000 tones of billets to contain soaring steel prices.
The Abad Chairman noted that a decision in principle had been taken to revive the ship-breaking industry at Gadani, which would meet about 20 percent requirements of the local steel demand.
He hoped that as directed by the minister, Pakistan Steel would blacklist those dealers, who were found involved in hoarding steel. This step would surely bring the local steel prices back to the normal level.