Ship-breaking industry facing tough time
Sunday, 2 September 2007
Jasim Uddin Haroon, back from Sitakunda
Country's ship breaking yards in Chittagong are passing idle time as the import of old ships declined sharply in recent months.
Ship-breaking industry insiders said importers of old ships are not procuring old ships with a view to avoiding harassment by the government agency concerned.
"The government should take steps for restoring confidence among the old ship importers for the sake of survival of the industry", said one senior official of the Bangladesh Ship Breaking Association (BSBA).
Industry people also alleged that vested quarters, both local as well as overseas, were responsible for such sharp decline of import of old ships.
The decline in old ship imports is likely to affect the production in the re-rolling mills, resulting in further hike in prices of steel products.
Currently, the price of mild steel rod is ranging between Tk 4800-50,000 a tonne.
Chairman of the BSBA Sufi Mizanur Rahman told the FE that an unholy alliance formed by local and international groups had been hatching conspiracy against the industry for long and the present worst situation was the outcome of their evil designs.
The ship breaking fields used to produce 1.6 million to 1.7 million tonnes of scrap metals a year involving some 120 to 150 old ships in Chittagong. But this year it might go down to 0.4 to 0.5 million tonnes.
While visiting the ship-breaking yards along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, the makeshift ships of vendors who used to sell different kinds of ship furniture have been dismantled during the recent eviction drive against unauthorised structures across the country.
Apart from this, a number of ship breaking firms have retrenched their employees following the slump in their business.
Currently, only three ships are being dismantled.
There are 32 ship breaking yards at Sitakuda and in part of Mirsharai in Chittagong and they used to supply major share of raw materials to the country's re-rolling mills.
Re-rolling mills themselves also import scraps.
He said the international price of scrap metal stands now at US$ 550 each tonne compared to $460 a couple of weeks back.
Sources at the BSBA office said that European Commission (EC), International Labor Organisation (ILO) and environmentalists have been opposing breaking of old ships along the sea-beach for reason of environmental protection.
The EC has already imposed a ban on export of old ships from its member countries to Bangladesh.
Country's ship breaking yards in Chittagong are passing idle time as the import of old ships declined sharply in recent months.
Ship-breaking industry insiders said importers of old ships are not procuring old ships with a view to avoiding harassment by the government agency concerned.
"The government should take steps for restoring confidence among the old ship importers for the sake of survival of the industry", said one senior official of the Bangladesh Ship Breaking Association (BSBA).
Industry people also alleged that vested quarters, both local as well as overseas, were responsible for such sharp decline of import of old ships.
The decline in old ship imports is likely to affect the production in the re-rolling mills, resulting in further hike in prices of steel products.
Currently, the price of mild steel rod is ranging between Tk 4800-50,000 a tonne.
Chairman of the BSBA Sufi Mizanur Rahman told the FE that an unholy alliance formed by local and international groups had been hatching conspiracy against the industry for long and the present worst situation was the outcome of their evil designs.
The ship breaking fields used to produce 1.6 million to 1.7 million tonnes of scrap metals a year involving some 120 to 150 old ships in Chittagong. But this year it might go down to 0.4 to 0.5 million tonnes.
While visiting the ship-breaking yards along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, the makeshift ships of vendors who used to sell different kinds of ship furniture have been dismantled during the recent eviction drive against unauthorised structures across the country.
Apart from this, a number of ship breaking firms have retrenched their employees following the slump in their business.
Currently, only three ships are being dismantled.
There are 32 ship breaking yards at Sitakuda and in part of Mirsharai in Chittagong and they used to supply major share of raw materials to the country's re-rolling mills.
Re-rolling mills themselves also import scraps.
He said the international price of scrap metal stands now at US$ 550 each tonne compared to $460 a couple of weeks back.
Sources at the BSBA office said that European Commission (EC), International Labor Organisation (ILO) and environmentalists have been opposing breaking of old ships along the sea-beach for reason of environmental protection.
The EC has already imposed a ban on export of old ships from its member countries to Bangladesh.