300 re-rolling mills on verge of closure

Around 300 re-rolling mills of the country are on the verge of closure due to scarcity of raw materials.
Although price of steel scraps is declining in the international market because of global recession, but price of MS Rod has been rising in the country due to shortage of scraps.
The crisis of scraps, the main raw material for the re-rolling mills, has been created for various reasons including scarcity of oxygen used in ship-breaking yards.
General Secretary of Bangladesh Re-rolling Mills Association Abu Bakar Siddique said if the problems are not resolved soon, the re-rolling mills of Narayanganj, Rupganj, Shyampur, Savar, Manikganj, Gazipur and Chittagong might have to be closed down.
Such massive closure of the re-rolling mills, he said, would render jobless some one crore people who are directly or indirectly involved with the industry.
Siddique said ship-breaking yards are the key suppliers of scraps, but recently the High Court has directed the government to stop in two weeks the operation of ship-breaking yards which run without environmental clearance.
Steel re-rolling mills produce mild steel (MS) Rod used mainly in the construction industry to re-enforce concrete.
Mill owners said the price of MM Rod would increase more for the short supply of scrap.
At present, a ton of scrap is selling at Tk 33,00-35,000 and MS Rod at Tk 45,000-48,000.
Vice-president of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association M Mohsin said he is not aware of any government ban on ship breaking, but he admitted that scrap supply is quite insufficient against the demand.
He said scarcity of oxygen in the ship-breaking yards as well as power and gas crisis have been hampering ship-breaking work, which resulted in short supply of scraps.