Electric fan manufacturers in Gujranwala city of Punjab province, urged the government to impose a duty on the export of scrap to China and sought a reduction in the regulatory duty on electrical steel sheet imports as the industry battles with expensive inputs and loss in sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Dawn, increasing prices of basic raw materials needed for the production of electrical fans have significantly raised the costs of the manufacturers and brought upward pressure on retail market rates across the country.
The industry is also facing a shortage of raw materials including electrical steel sheet, copper, aluminium and some plastic items -- in the domestic market. This along with poor sales owing to the shrinking buying powers of consumers amid the pandemic is leading to production cuts, fan manufacturers told Dawn.
"The raw material market is quite volatile for the last six to eight months as the prices of electrical steel sheet, the most important material of a fan, with rates going up to USD 1200-1400 per tonne," a manufacturer said.
"Scrap, which is a second major source of getting steel for fan manufacturers, is hardly available as it is being exported to China," he said.
The fan industry has been demanding imposition of duty on the export of scrap to China so that the local industry has access to cheaper raw material, said Muhammad Waqas, an electrical fan manufacturer, adding that rates of raw materials are increasing on a daily basis, causing price volatility in the market amid lower sales.
Ali Usman, former chairman of the Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association (Pefma), said prices of raw materials have doubled in the last six months, Dawn reported.
"The daily fluctuation in the rates of raw material is causing unprecedented problems for the manufacturers in coping with the situation at a time when the market is already facing tough circumstances due to the pandemic," he said. "Likewise, the export sector of the fan industry is also facing the issue of fixation of prices in the global market," Usman added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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