The Abbas Steel Group has noted with concern that one steel unit, Frontier Foundry, has launched concerted campaign against a reputable steel group of the country, and some media outlets have been easily fed with wrong facts by the perpetrators of the campaign.
Abbas Steel Group clarifies for all that it has at no point been given any financial advantage or preferential treatment by Pakistan Steel Mills. Pakistan Steel Mills offers a uniform price for all its customers that is published on its website and Abbas Steel Group has paid the prevailing market rate for all its raw materials procured from Pakistan Steel Mills.
It has been consistently alleged by Frontier Foundry and quoted by Business Recorder dated May 1, 2009 that "much of Pakistan Steel Mills production of billet was being allocated to a few undertakings collectively known as the Abbas Group". This again is a big fallacy. Statistics as available from Pakistan Steel Mills website show that other steel units were also being supplied Pakistan Steel products.
Abbas Steel Group runs some of the most modern automatic steel plants in the country and these have high installed capacity for producing value-added steel products. In fact, individual mills on average have received significant allocation/dispatches of billet more than Abbas Steel Group during the month of October and November 2008 which can be verified by Pakistan Steel Mills records.
Abbas Steel Group runs four units and these entire have the legitimate right to get Pakistan Steel Mills products for value-addition. Statistics show that the four units of Abbas Steel Group have received on average 8000 tons per unit over the period in question, while Amreli, a single unit, has received 23,000 tons over the same period.
Therefore, allegations of any favouritism by PSM towards Abbas Steel Group are unfounded. Other units in the country have also received PSM products, and that is also verifiable. Abbas Steel Group feels that the allegations levelled by Frontier Foundry and reproduced in the columns of this esteemed newspaper are discriminatory and maligning in nature against us, a press release of the Group said.-PR