The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has requested the ministry of finance to impose regulatory duty on cement imports from Iran to save the local industry.
In a letter to Secretary Finance Waqar Masood Khan, APCMA Chairman Mohammad Ali Tabba said that cement imports from Iran had touched alarming levels.
“Over the last year, a large quantity is arriving daily and now the quantities are at an alarmingly high level reaching about 2,000 tons per day,” stated the letter.
The APCMA chairman added that despite statutory custom duty of 20 per cent, the Iranian cement was selling at the price levels of 40 per cent below the retail price of domestically produced cement in the Balochistan market due to connivance of custom officials.
“As a result, the local market in the areas adjacent to the Iranian border and the coastal area of Balochistan are flooded with Iranian cement,” he added. It is to be noted that cement imports from Iran are coming through the Iran-Pakistan border via land routes and through railway.
Consequently, he added, that domestically produced cement was fast losing market as it was unable to compete with this Iranian cement because of the evasion of duties and taxes. Secondly, they were also not complaint with the PSQCA, he added. The authority must not allow import of cement from Iran unless it was fully complaint with duties and taxes and certification from the PSQCA, he added.
“Pakistan’s cement industry is making huge investments in increasing production to gear up for upcoming China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects,” said the APCMA chairman, adding that cement was their important export item as well, earning precious foreign exchange of over 0.5 billion dollars annually over the last decade.
He said this surge in the Iranian cement imports was a big threat and would seriously affect the domestic industry, while it would also jeopardise the investment in the industry. “In order to protect the industry from the onslaught of Iranian cement import, it was prayed that the regulatory duty of 20 per cent may be imposed on cement imports as per HS Code 2523:2900,” suggested the chairman.
