September 09, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1429

HARIPUR, Sept 8: All the 12 steel manufacturing units of the Hattar Industrial Estate have been closed down from September 1st due to hike in electricity and petroleum products and loadshedding, rendering over 3,000 workers jobless.

The other industrial units are also on verge of collapse as there is no effort on part of the government to rectify the situation, says Malik Ashiq Awan, senior vice-president of the Hattar Industrialists’ Association. He was talking to Dawn here on Monday.

“When the petrol and diesel is costly it would certainly facilitate an upward trend in the production cost of industries, and right now we are exposed to the same situation”, Mr Awan said, adding depreciation of rupee against the dollar had further increased the import rates of raw material used for steel industry.

Mr Awan said that the contractors had also refused to buy steel from the units citing increase in its price. —Correspondent