Pakistani Ship breakers Lauds 15% Duty on Import
Welcoming the latest policy, Ship breakers in Pakistan defended the imposition of 15% Regulatory Duty (RD) on the import of all steel billets, steel bars and wire rods.
Describing the step as much needed and timely, the Pakistan Ship-Breakers Association (PSBA) lauded the imposition of RD. "The Pakistan Ship breakers Association salutes the Government of Pakistan for this bold move which has helped save hundreds of thousands of jobs as well as the local steel industry," it said in a statement.
The government’s decision has come as a response to lengthy lobbying on part of the steel industry, which was trying to secure its survival in the face of international competition. Steel melters, ship breakers and large scale re-rollers – that represent over 85% of the sector’s production capacity – approached the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and relevant ministries on the rising difference between locally manufactured and imported products.
The Pakistani Ship Breaking industry is the country’s largest steel raw material supplier to the re-rolling and wire rod industry.
The PSBA chairman Dewan Rizwan Farooqi stated that since 2010, the ship-breaking industry had been providing 1.2 million tonnes of steel raw materials annually to the re-rolling, wire rod and steel melting industry.