Special Correspondent :
Mild steel (MS) rod prices in Bangladesh reached all-time high, hitting Tk 91,000 per tonne amid persistent high prices of raw materials globally.
The premium quality of 60 grade MS rod (BSRM) was sold at Tk 90,500 to Tk 91,000 per tonne yesterday which was Tk 88,000 per tonne a week ago.The price of per tonne same grade rod was Tk 78,000, month ago, according to the traders in the capital city.
They said, BSRM rods are now being sold at the highest prices in the market.Besides, prices per tonne rod of other companies including KSRM, GPH, KSML, Bandar and Anwar and Rahim Steel were ranging from Tk Tk 78,000 to Tk 89,000.
“Rod prices continue to rise for the last several months,” Md Sharif, a street trader at the Old told The New Nation yesterday.
He said, “The way the price of rod is going up, I would not be surprised if price of one ton of rod is reached Tk one lakh.”
“I have been doing business with the dealership of BSRM and Bandar Steel Industries Limited. I use to sell rods of these two companies. A few days ago, the price of a tonne of rod of Bandar Steel Mills was Tk 74,000 and now it reached Tk 89,000. Besides, price of per tonne rodof BSRM also increased to Tk 91,000 in a same way,” said Md Sharif.
He also said that rod prices have not just went up, but there was a supply crunch also.
“If I had ordered earlier, I would have got the rod in one or two days, now it is available after 10-15 days,” he added.
Md Sharif also mentioned that his sales have decreased significantlydue to the increase in rod prices.
Meanwhile, manufacturers largely blame the increasing cost of melting scrapin the international market for the price hike of rod in the local market.
They said prices of rod-making scrap in both international and national markets have been rising since September last year, making all grades of MS rods pricier.
The melting scrap,the raw material of steel products, is either directly imported in billet form or supplied by Chattogram-based shipbreakers.
Steel millers also mentioned a sharp rise in freight costs (up to $300 per tonne) in importing raw materials.
Tapan Sengupta, Deputy Managing Director of the BSRM Group, said scrap was $265-270 per tonne in July-September 2020 in the international market, while it went up to $550-580 in June last year.
BSRM is the largest steelmaker in Bangladesh.
“Recently, the price of steel scrap rose to $630 per tonne,” said Tapan Sengupta adding that the price of metal scrap in the global market has almost doubled in the last one year.
When asked, he said, “It is impossible to reduce the prices of rods without the prices of raw materials going down in the international market.”
Besides, the rising cost of steel is having a direct impact on real estate sector, private home makers and other construction sectors by pushing up construction costs.
Contractors who are working on different public projects are also feeling the pinch of rising prices of the key construction material in the recent times.
The Bangladesh Association of Construction Industry (BACI) earlier urged the government to raise procurement prices of construction materials.
