Traders in Amritsar feel the heat as steel prices skyrocket

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 25

Industrialists using steel as a raw material are irked as its price has shot up around 50 per cent during the last four months. Harwinder Singh, who manufactures weighbridges, said he was compelled to pay from his own pocket as price of steel has increased manifold.

He said the kind of steel used to manufacture weighbridge costs Rs 78 per kg, including 18 per cent GST. In February, the steel used to cost Rs 48 per kg, he said. “It takes two to three months to deliver an order. In the meantime, price of raw material escalates so much that input cost exceeds the profit. For how long can I pay salary to 600 employees?”

“Escalating diesel cost is also squeezing our profit. Weighbridges are transported across the country on trucks,” he said.

City-based manufacturers said their basic investment has skyrocketed due to rise of steel price. Samir Goyal, a manufacturer of hardware products, said demand for these products fell sharply after constant rise in rates of steel and diesel. He said, “Price of steel is rising in the domestic market as iron ore is being sold to China.”

Goyal said the Centre does not have any policy to support the MSME sector except offering loans, which compound the problem.