FAISALABAD, March 21: All foundry, engineering, auto-parts, surgical and agricultural implement manufacturers in the country will have to close down their units if the government failed to resolve the iron crisis within a week.

This was stated by Faisalabad Foundry and Engineering Industries Group (FFEIG) president Iftikhar Ahmad, Foundry Owners Association Lahore (FOAL) chief Mian Akram and office-bearers of affiliated bodies on Sunday.

They told newsmen that over 150 units had been operating in Faisalabad while the same number in other parts of the country. They claimed that 70 percent of the total foundry units had been idle for the last few months while the rest were on the verge of closure because of the 'wrong policies' of the Pakistan Steel Mills authorities which exorbitantly increased the prices of pig iron and hard coke.

According to them, the prices of pig iron had witnessed 100 per cent increase during the last six months. It was available in the market at Rs13,440 per ton in June 2003, but now the same was being sold at Rs27,875 per ton.

Similarly, hard coke was being sold by the dealers at Rs9,960 per ton in June last year. It was being marketed at Rs45,000 to Rs55,000 per ton in the open market last month.

At present, hard coke was not available in the market which was the major reason of closure of industrial, foundry and engineering units in the country. They claimed that they held a number of meetings with the federal industries minister, Pakistan Steel Mills chairman and other officials concerned, but to no avail.

They said that if drastic steps were not taken by the government to resolve the crisis, they would be left with no option but to close down their factories, rendering hundreds of thousands of industrial workers jobless.

They said that scores of orders of auto-parts, surgical and agricultural implements besides other inputs were likely to be cancelled as the foundry owners were unable to fulfil their commitments with the foreign buyers because of exorbitant increase in the prices of raw material.