Pause in ship-breaking hikes rod prices in Ctg

Suspension of work at ship-breaking yards in Chittagong, which put production and supply of scrap iron on hold since Saturday, triggered a price hike of rod.
The price of mild-steel (MS) rod increased by Tk 3,000 a tonne in the last three days.
The price of 40-grade MS rod rose to Tk 39,000 from Tk 36,000 a tonne. But the price of 60-grade MS rod, manufactured by larger companies, remains unchanged at Tk 47,500 a tonne, said Md Sharif, manager of Hossain and Brothers at Halishahar in the port city.
Ship-breaking yard owners suspended operations, protesting a new import policy that makes it mandatory for ship importers to submit pre-cleaning certificates before any ship enters the country's maritime territory.
Workers at the yards extended support to the owners, demanding cancellation of the amended statutory regulatory order (SRO) on the import of scrap vessels.
"The production and supply of scrap iron is on hold. Unless we can restore activities soon, it will hike rod prices further," said Kamal Uddin, vice-president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association.
Of the 75 BSBA-listed yards, some 50 yards had vessels for dismantling. But these yards were sure to run out of stock in a few weeks, unless vessels could be imported for beaching, said Abul Kashem, a ship-breaking yard owner.
After the commerce ministry amended its policy order on the import of scrap vessels, Chittagong Customs barred at least 10 ships from entering the country's maritime territory since they did not have pre-cleaning certificates.
The workers of different ship-breaking yards brought out a procession on Monday, demanding steps to stop "conspiracy against the ship-breaking industry".
"Ship-breaking activities are going on in neighbouring India, Pakistan and China. But when ship-breaking activities in our country are protested on the grounds of environmental pollution, we consider it nothing but a conspiracy," said Chittagong Regional Sramik League President Shafi Bangalee.