The newly formed Bangladesh Auto Re rolling and Steel Mills Association have demanded that the government reduce the value added tax on the imports of steel. As per report they also called for a tax rationalization between imported steel and scrap steel, pointing it out that the proposed tax structure is unjustified.
The report quoted Mr Masudul Alam Masud president of the association as saying that "The new budget has proposed a BDT 250 enhancement on each tonne of MS rod produced from imported steel, which will ultimately hinder the growth in the steel sector.’
Mr Masud said the steel industry suffered uncertainty and volatility in prices due to dominance by some ship breakers. He added that "The government needs to intervene in the sector by rationalizing the tax structure to break the dominance and support the environment friendly industries.”
Mr Masud said the said ship breakers pay BDT 1,000 for each tonne of scrap steel where as the auto re rolling millers have to pay BDT 1,500 for the same amount of imported melding scrap.
He claimed that the BDT 10,000 crore industry can meet more than 50% of the local demand for 3 million tonnes of MS rod a year.
The steel producers have also expressed their concerns over the possible imposition of USD 150 for each container as surcharge. Different shipping lines made an announcement that such surcharge would come into effect, provided that the ongoing slowness continues in unloading products at the Chittagong Port.
Mr Masud further said that if the surcharge is imposed, the cost of steel will rise by another BDT 12,000 per tonne.
The steel millers also claimed that Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute is collecting a special fee on annual turnover from steel millers, which is also irrational. They said BSTI should collect a fixed annual license fee and specific testing fees on particular products.
The association leaders urged the government to initiate talks with Indian counterparts so that the Bangladesh steel industry can export to the seven sister states of the neighboring country.
(Sourced from thedailystar.net)
