The second increase in the ongoing month has pushed the steel bar price to an all-time high of 227,500 per tonne due to weakening of local currency.
During April, two times hike in the price of steel has taken cumulative monthly increase to Rs 9,000 per ton. Today the price of of cold rolled coils (CRCs) has reached Rs 227,500 per ton. The hot dipped galvanised coil (HDGC) rates increased by around Rs 4,000 to Rs 238,800 per ton.
The political temperature in the country is going high day by day, affecting all the economic activities. Mohsin Sheikhani, the Chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) said that the government has stopped holding weekly meetings with construction stakeholders, builders, and relevant government ministries for the last three to four weeks. He said it while talking about the increasing price of steel.
Another analyst noted that rupee recovered by a notable 1.9% to Rs 184.68 on Friday after falling to record low of Rs 188.18 a day earlier. “The industry might consider downward revision in the steel prices if rupee maintains upward trend against the greenback. It has revised down the prices in the past as well.”
Read more: Steel price raised twice in four days to rise above Rs 208,000
Russia and Ukraine are the biggest suppliers of steel to the world and their ongoing war has not only caused the bullish trend in the price of steel not only in Pakistan but all over the world.
Present PTI government had particularly focused on the development of constriction and housing sectors as these sectors are the source of promoting hundreds of other allied industries. As a result of the government’s encouragement, these two sectors performed very well during the last two years. But the rising prices of fuel, steel, and cement badly affected the working of the construction sector.
The Chairman of ABAD said that the increasing trend in the prices of steel bar, cement, paint, sanitary fittings, tiles, windows and door fittings, etc. including the higher labor charges has gone by 30 percent to 35 percent in one year.
He said the builders have asked the government to decrease the customs duty on the finished steel products and raw materials, used in making the steel bars. Mohsin Sheikhani said that the per sq. ft. cost of construction was Rs 2,500 which has now gone to Rs 4,000.
