Abad rejects exorbitant hike in steel prices

KARACHI: The Association of Builders and Developers (Abad) on Wednesday criticised the price hike of steel bars and said such a move will hit the objectives of the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, a statement said.

Abad chairman Fayyaz Ilyas vehemently rejected Rs11,000/tonne price hike in steel bars within a span of 15 days and demanded the federal government to take stern action against steel manufacturers’ cartel, otherwise Naya Pakistan Housing Programme will become a distant dream.

He also demanded stabilisation of steel prices through abrogation of the regulatory duty and additional regulatory duty (ARD) on steel import.

The association chairman said the steel manufacturers had increased Rs5,000/tonne on a steel bar, taking the price to Rs151,500/tonne on June 24, 2021 and after 14 days again raised the price of steel bars by Rs6,000, taking it to a record high of Rs157,500/tonne, which is unacceptable.

The ever-increasing prices of steel bars will make the construction costlier and the middle-class people will not be able to construct or purchase a home, what to talk about poor people, he added.

Ilyas said that the present government had announced a special package for the revival of the construction industry, in particular, and national economy, in general but, with the restart of the construction activities, steel manufacturers’ cartel have raised prices of steel bars, an important component for construction, many times, making construction more and more costly.

He demanded the federal government to abolish regulatory duty and additional regulatory duty on the import of steel bars to stabilise prices so that the construction industry could be saved from total collapse and the dream of Prime Minister Imran Khan to construct 5 million houses for the lower strata of the society could be realised and national economy could be strengthened. If immediate action is not taken, the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme could never be materialised, he warned.

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