September 06, 2008

Pakistani steel makers demand uninterrupted power supply

The News reported that Pakistani steel makers have demanded the government to provide uninterrupted electricity and have also expressed serious reservations on exorbitant rates for an unreliable source of power. They said that the soaring cost of raw materials including coal, iron ore and scrap for smelting were already a burden and high cost of electricity was making the business of furnace casting and rolling mills unviable.

Mr Shahab Ahmed of Amaan Steel said that the rising prices of scrap and electricity are hitting furnace and rolling mills hard but worst affected are the end users because mills pass on the price burden to consumers. He said that “Furnace casting mills need uninterrupted electricity to run Electric Arc Furnaces; this is why a power breakdown of 4 consecutive hours proves to be an 8 hours breakdown for us as the Electric Arc Furnace needs 4 hours to heat up and work.”

An owner of another furnace casting mill said that “Electricity happens to be one of the most important raw materials of furnace casting mill. The rising prices of scrap and electricity have been building up pressure on our industry. Obviously, if we purchase costly raw materials like scrap and power we would pass on this to end consumer and resultantly the end products prices will shoot up. Manufacturers of mild bars are not increasing prices the cost of raw material is going up.”