Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Chief Executive Officer Maj Gen (r) Zaheer Ahmed Khan has said that efforts were underway to enhance PSM’s production capacity to 77 percent by April 2015.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Saturday, he said the production capacity was likely to improve up to 50 percent in February, 60 percent in March and PSM’s capacity will be raised further to 77 percent or even more by April making it a profitable organisation. The supply chain of raw material has been streamlined with the help of recent financial restructuring package, he added. Vice Chairman Businessmen Group and former president KCCI, Zubair Motiwala, President KCCI, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Senior Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi, former presidents KCCI, Majyd Aziz, AQ Khalil and KCCI managing committee members attended the meeting. The CEO sought Karachi chamber’s assistance in convincing the government to ensure a level-playing field to the PSM so that it could regain its previous status of being a profitable organisation. “If we lose Pakistan Steel today, we will never be able to get back this marvel of Pakistan,” he added.
He said the government had been granting bail-out packages during the period of crisis which began in 2008-09 but all these untimely bail-out packages were not effectively utilised, resulting in creating more and more cash-flow problems. Consequently, the PSM has remained in trouble during the past five years but was now all set and well-positioned on its path to revival owing to the overall revamping of the mill by its existing staff who have all the capabilities, expertise and skills to transform the PSM into a profit-making organisation.
The CEO also invited a delegation from Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to visit Pakistan Steel Mills in order to explore the possibility of setting up downstream industries on a 200 acres land available near the Mill.
He urged the iron and steel dealers to play their part for development and progress of this national asset to bring it back on track of prosperity by procuring the PSM products instead of relying on import.
He informed that the PSM was in the process of repair and maintenance and improvements of its main plants and soon they will be able to run the plant at a high capacity with full efficiency. Speaking on the occasion, Zubair Motiwala underscored the need to effectively utilise the dedicated workforce of PSM in order to make it a commercially viable organisation which would surely help in creating more employment opportunities and play its role in the development of economy.
Earlier, while welcoming the CEO PSM, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, said that a KCCI delegation’s visit to PSM would soon be organised so that issues being faced by businessmen and industrialists associated with this important sector could be discussed in detail.
Senior Vice President KCCI Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi said that iron and steel sector played the role of a backbone in the country’s economy. He was of the view that politicising of Pakistan Steel Mills was one of the major reasons for its failure to yield positive results. Underscoring the need to improve efficiency and management of PSM, he said the management strategies need to be revisited and KCCI was ready to extend full support to PSM in this regard.
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