KARACHI: Local manufacturers of steel wire rod and billet have approached the Directorate of Customs Valuation about their concerns over the determination of customs values of iron non-alloy steel wire rod low/high carbon (draw quality) vide Valuation Ruling No 693/2014 No Misc/26/2014-VI issued on September 26, 2014.
Representatives of local manufacturers of billet as well as steel wire rod approached the office of the Directorate General of Customs Valuation at Customs House, Karachi on Wednesday. Talking to Customs Today, the representative of one of the largest manufacturers of steel reinforcement bars in the country said the high cost of doing business has pushed the production costs to a level where the local steel industry could not compete with the imports.
He said that Pakistan Steel Melters Association, of which his company is a member, is not happy with determination of Customs values of iron non alloy steel wire rod low/high carbon (draw quality) vide Valuation Ruling No 693. Pakistan has become a dumping ground of steel wire rod from China, which remains the major supplier to Pakistan though a small quantity of the product is also being imported from Russia. The fact is that the high cost of doing business in addition to high cost of production has rendered the steel wire rod industry in-competitive against imported counterpart, he added.
