All Pakistan Steel Importers Action Committee, comprising three importers associations, has proposed the budget makers to abolish regulatory duty on the imports of flat rolled steel products. On the conclusion of the meeting of the Action Committee, the spokesman of the committee Munaaf Chohan said that the representatives of three associations ie Pakistan Iron and Steel Merchants Association, Karachi Iron and Steel Merchants Association and Pakistan National Steel Association met to finalise budget proposals for 2015-16 in the light of vision & manifesto of Prime Minister Nawaz sharif.
The All Pakistan Steel Action Committee has flayed the decision of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet to impose regulatory duty on various steel products and demanded of the Federal Finance Minister to review its decision in the larger interest of the trade and economy. In a statement issued here on Sunday, APSCA Spokesperson while terming ECC decision as a "Mini Budget" estimated that regulatory duty on various items may put an extra burden of billions on the consumers.
This violates the principle of transparency under the (WTO) rules and the specific regulation of the WTO agreement.
The APSIAC senior co-ordinator & spokesperson said that flat rolled products were not the luxury items as declared by the ECC.
He said that the imposition of regulatory duty would increase the cost of small scale industries which is already on higher side as compared to the other countries of the region. He said that there should be a clear difference between the luxurious and necessities and 100% duty should be imposed on luxurious items.
The representatives of steel associations said that the trade & industry was already passing through very critical times due to unavailability of electricity & gas and in dire need of handholding by the government to run their businesses.
He said that the private sector was ready to supplement all government efforts aimed at revival of economic activities in the country if they are provided breathing space but in the presence of such anti business decisions, it would be very difficult for the private sector to continue with their businesses.
He urged the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to review the decisions of ECC of the Cabinet and withdraw regulatory duty on the essential items in the larger interest of the business community.
All Pakistan Steel Importers Action Committee proposed that prices of the steel products manufactured by the local producers including Aisha Steel & ISL should be regulated in accordance with the trends in the international steel markets. All the departments should play their necessary role so that the benefits of cheaper steel flat rolled products procured from the international steel market may be made available to the end user & for the welfare of common people. The main producers of the flat rolled products in the private sector are enjoying benefits and exemptions extended by the government.
Through the efforts of the small scale enterprises, the standard quality steel has been imported directly from the world class steel manufacturers especially China and the essential raw material ie HRC, CRC & G.P/ Coated Steel was made available to the direct consumers at much cheaper prices after payment of statutory rates of taxes in comparison to the prices offered by others due to which the small & specifically the cottage industry was able to survive in the ongoing competitive scenario.
The transport, machinery and infra structure of the country is entirely based on flat rolled products and almost all sectors of the economy are related with this product and the major demand is met through import of cheaper product at the competitive prices.
In this situation, the wrong legislation and misuse of the government department by the monopolistic steel manufacturers can result in price hike which is against the vision of preset government which is determined to provide equal opportunities and level playing grounds to the potential steel importers.
For instance the CFR prices of flat rolled products in the international steel market range HRC $360 PMT CRC $400 PMT, GP, US $480 whereas domestic industries are providing the same material at HRC $500 CRC $600, GP $675 PMT, hence in case of procurement of expensive material from the domestic manufacturers, the exporters will not able to able to compete in the international market which will have a negative impact on our exports and GDP rate, they were of the view. The small scale and cottage industries are not only transporting cheaper products from China to Pakistan at the lowest available prices but also paying heavy taxes to the government, action committee added.