KARACHI: A newly-constituted group of steel makers, Pakistan Steel Manufacturer Association (PSMA), has urged the government to review federal excise duty (FED) on the ship-breaking industry.
The PSMA members said that hike in power tariffs had further widened the price difference between steel products and other production created by the ship-breaking industry.
Amreli Steels Chief Executive Abbas Akberali said that the rise in electricity prices had also increased the rate of steel by at least Rs5,000 per tonne. He urged the government to impose an FED of at least Rs10,000 per tonne on ship-breaking products to cut down the price difference.
The current price of shredded scrap from smelters is Rs69,645 per tonne, as compared with the ship-breaking industry’s billets of Rs54,509 per tonne – a difference of Rs15,136 per tonne.
