The government has increased the import duty on raw materials such as re-rollable scrap and chemicals from five percent in the last fiscal year to 10 percent in the current financial year (2007-08) beginning from July 1.

Now, per tonne of MS (mild steel) rod is selling at Tk 39,000-Tk 41,000, the owners said.

However, the fixed duty of Tk 1,000 per tonne on ship scrap, also used in producing MS rod, remains unchanged in the new budget.

"We urge the government to introduce fixed duty of Tk 1,000 on import of per tonne of re-rollable scrap, " said Sheikh Masadul Alam Masud, general secretary of Bangladesh Re-rolling Mills Association (BRMA), at a press conference in Dhaka yesterday.

BRMA and Bangladesh Steel Mill Owners Association (BSMOA) jointly organised the press conference.

The associations' leaders also demanded duty reduction on chemicals import from 10 percent to five percent, and urged the government to withdraw advance income tax and value added tax on the chemicals.

The government should also withdraw the import duty on power generators, Masud said.

Among others, BRMA President Ali Hossain, and BSMOA Senior Vice President Abul Kashem Majumder and Secretary General Fazlur Rahman Bakul were present at the press conference.