Despite the elapse of a month, the fate of imported cement is still undecided as the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has clearly conveyed to the importers that their detained Chinese cement would not be released. However, the importers are hoping that they would manage to convince the CBR over the quality issue of the cement.
The commercial importers are still confident that their imported commodity possesses good quality and was manufactured under the strict international standards. However, the stance of the custom authorities is also very clear that the samples of the cement imported from China do not conform to the specifications prescribed under the national standard PS: 232 of cement as applied in Pakistan, according to Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
The importers are also waiting for the announced subsidy of Rs 60 per 40 kg bag by the federal government in April last, which they say, has not been cleared despite submission of all the necessary documents.
"The issue of subsidy is in the process and we are hoping to get it shortly, however, we have sold all the stocks of the imported cement and preparing to place some more orders in China," said a leading importer on the condition of anonymity.
However, the public notification issued by the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives (MoIP&SI) on April 28, reads, "As per ECC decision in case No ECC-69/4/2006, a freight subsidy of Rs 60 per 50kg bag on imported cement has been allowed in order to improve the supply of cement in the domestic market thereby reducing its price."
It said that the importers could lodge their claims, along with the documents including invoice, copy of contract/LC, bill of entry/GD form, truck/railway receipt, etc.
The notification said that the commercial bank would examine, process, recommend and forward, the claim within three working days of its receipt, to concerned State Bank of Pakistan, BSC Field office, for payment.
"State Bank of Pakistan, BSC Field offices, on the basis of the bank's certification, will debit relevant head of Government Account and will credit the bank's account within three working days of receipt of claim from the bank for onwards disbursement to the concerned importer immediately," it remarked. Sources said that a very few importers are still interested in bringing in the Chinese commodity, but also fear that the custom authorities may detained their cement despite having quarantine and other quality standard certificates.
"We have verbally placed some orders but still meticulously observing the current situation," an importer said, adding that once the detained commodity released, a few importers would make their deals on papers.
"I don't know why the customs authorities had detained the cement which is used by the countries like the United States, Afghanistan, Hong Kong as well as countries in the Far East and Middle East," he added.
According to sources in the Customs, the government is insisting on re-testing the samples. Efforts are being made to hush up the PSQCA's report as one of the importers commands vast influence in the corridors of power and is endeavouring hard to ensure that the consignment of cement, held up at Karachi port, is cleared, they said.
Some traders are of the view that the imported cement was quite expensive when compared to its quality, however, the importers stood firm and dispelled the impression, saying that the 50 kg bag of imported cement was tagged between Rs250-Rs270 per bag.
On the contrary, the private importers have also thrown allegations on the local cement manufacturers, saying that a strong lobby got activated the day when the government had announced to import cement from different countries, aimed to contain the skyrocketing domestic cement prices.
"On one hand, they (local cement manufacturers) do not only enhance their production capacity but also raise their products' prices for no reason," a cement importer regrettably said.
Market sources said the detention of the cement had adversely affected the import process. Because some ten ships which were ready for the departure from Chinese port Long Kou, were given an order to stop and offload as the Pakistani importers immediately cancelled their deals when they were informed that a ship MV Uthai Navy had been detained in Pakistan when reached here.
The commercial importers of cement earlier estimated the local market demand of around 600,000 tonnes and were mentally prepared to book the commodity at the rate of $65-$70 per tonne, however, when the customs detained the second consignment of Chinese cement, they all backed-off.