Sep 21, 2022
Steel industry has good future as demand rising

2022-09-26
Undergoing uncertainties for high raw material prices and foreign currency rates, the country's steel industry still has a good future as infrastructure demand is booming while the economy resilient, said experts and manufacturers at a conference yesterday. 
They informed that steelmakers in Bangladesh including BSRM, AKS and GPH are going to increase their production capacities by around five to six million tonnes in the next four to five years to cater to government-funded infrastructure projects.
The programme, styled "3rd Steel and Raw Material Conference: Emerging Bangladesh", was organised by SteelMint Events, an India-based networking and business platform, in Chattogram yesterday.
Participants from 30 countries, including global suppliers of raw materials and technology, joined the two-day event jointly inaugurated by BSRM Group Chairman Alihussain Akberali and PHP Group Chairman Sufi Mohamed Mizanur Rahman.
The UAE-based Indicaa Group is the principal sponsor of the conference while BSRM, PHP, SMS Group, Electrotherm and RHI Magnesita are platinum sponsors.
Aameir Alihussain, managing director of BSRM Group, addressed the first session titled "Changing dynamics of global steel industry and its impact on Bangladesh".
He said the last three years have really been a rollercoaster ride for everyone involved in the steel industry and unfortunately this ride had not ended.
"As the country was about to recover from Covid, this Russia-Ukraine crisis happened and the impact of this war is felt faster in developing countries like Bangladesh," he said.
"Sometimes the price is going up, sometimes it is going down, even from the manufacturing side we cannot give any consistency to the market," he said.
"But countries like Bangladesh, a highly populated country, and others in South Asia have a domestic momentum that is always on," he added.
The domestic economy will keep progressing albeit maybe at a slower pace, Alihussain said.
A lot of manufacturing capacity will be added, at least by around five to six million tonnes, over the next four to five years, so there is a lot of work coming into Bangladesh, he said.
Rajesh Agarwal, a steel trading consultant from India, said the Bangladesh market was booming in terms of demand and consumption.
Mentioning challenges like supply chain disruptions, increases in energy prices, cost of production, freight rate and interest rate, trade sanctions and decreasing forex reserve, Agarwal emphasised that countries start trade using their own currencies.
Recently, Bangladesh Bank has allowed import and export in yuan with China and there was a request from the State Bank of India for Indian exporters to try to settle trade with Bangladesh in Indian rupees. 
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