April 18, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1429

RAWALPINDI, April 17: A consortium of eight local steel manufacturers has offered to develop iron ore deposits of Kalabagh and establish a steel mill of one million ton per annum capacity.

The offer was made during a meeting of the committee on steel, set up by the Engineering Development Board, which met in Islamabad on Thursday.

The meeting, chaired by Mohsin Syed, member, Board of Management of EDB, was a follow-up to the workshop, organised by the committee earlier this year.

The consortium will meet in Lahore on April 24 to sort out issues pertaining to logistics, like railways and leasing of mines.

The EDB would take up the issue with the authorities concerned and present a progress report at the proposed meeting, says an EDB press release.

The committee recommended that the Pakistan Steel should simultaneously increase its steel prices with the increase in international market so that importers could comfortably import the raw material.

This measure would help arrest the shortage of raw material.

It was also proposed that Pakistan Steel should adjust steel prices after specific interval on the pattern of petroleum products.

The committee emphasised the need for preparation of an action plan by the private sector for encouraging new investment in the steel sector so that the government could facilitate local investors.

Most of the private sector has pleaded for a level-playing field and suggested that the government should extend the same treatment as being meted out to foreign investors.

The representatives of the industry raised the question of abolishment of custom duties on steel products as reported by a section of the press.

They were assured that a clarification in this regard would be issued.