Businessmen seek support to sustain steel industry

Bangladesh’s steel and rod manufacturing sector on Monday sought government support on an urgent basis to help them tackle the global price hike of raw materials, which has put the sector into a serious crisis.

They made the call at the second meeting of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Standing Committee on Iron, Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Re-rolling Industries held at the FBCCI office on Sunday, read a press release.

“The steel sector is directly involved in the development of the country. It is very important to continue the industrialisation and other development progress of the country,” said FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin.

He demanded setting up a dollar fund for the import of raw materials, along with uninterrupted electricity and gas supply to the factories. The FBCCI chief also urged banks to cooperate in opening up LCs.

FBCCI Vice President MA Momen said that the crisis in the steel sector is clear, and advised businessmen to use the upcoming Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 as a platform for branding the steel sector.

The director in charge of the committee said that it is very important to take initiatives to reduce the price of construction materials to continue the government’s development stride.

This meeting was presided over by the chairman of the committee and chairman of the Bangladesh Steel Manufacturers Association Manwar Hossain. While delivering his speech, he demanded creating a dollar fund to sustain the steel sector.

FBCCI former first vice president Mohammad Ali, director SM Jahangir Alam (Manik), committee co-chairmen Md Shahidullah, Dr Sumon Chowdhury, Engineer Shafiqul Haque Talukder, Engineer Bimal Chandra Roy, and other members were present, among others, at the meeting.