The sales of steel products have plummeted, owing to a slump in the construction activities. This was stated by Ali Ahmad, vice chairman of Pakistan Steel Re-Rolling Mills Association along with Shahnawaz Ishtiaq, Abdul Latif Chaudhry and Farhana Mowji, during his visit to ABAD House here on Tuesday.
He said the problems faced by the construction industry are adding up to the woes created due to international recession. Consequently the steel re-rolling industry of Pakistan is also in crisis. The development of the steel industry along with 72 other industries is dependent on the construction industry.
The production capacity of the re-rolling mills in Karachi is 5000 tons per day, but currently the consumption is only 2000 tons. The ship breaking industry of Gadani is also facing crisis.
Chairman ABAD Engr Farooq-uz-Zaman Khan said the cement and steel are the basic raw material for the construction industry. These important sectors could only develop if the problems faced by construction industry are resolved. Farooq-uz-Zaman further said that the share of construction sector in our GDP is only 2.4 percent. He further said that if the re-rolling mills are run to their full capacity, it will add considerable amount to the national exchequer.
Chairman ABAD (Sindh & Balochistan Region) Saleem Kassim Patel elaborated the impediments being faced by construction industry, saying the country is facing a shortage of 8 million housing units, which is growing annually. If every year 500,000 homes are constructed, it will result in direct and indirect employments for millions of Pakistani labourers. Despite the recession, the share of construction sector employment-wise is more than 6 percent which after agricultural sector is the highest.
He said that the loan disbursement from Housing Project Zone of HBFC is very negligible and the commercial banks are also not providing long term finance for construction of homes. The problems of infrastructure are also hampering the growth of the construction sector.-PR