The skyrocketing price of steel has badly dented the profit margins of domestic companies belonging to the engineering and pipe manufacturing industries. The price rise has been fuelled by high exports. The Indian steel manufacturers are exporting around 50% of their produce because of good demand in the USA and China.According to the industry players, the prices have increased by a whopping 60% in the last one year and now they want a ban on export to save the domestic small and medium scale industry.Kutch’s pipe manufacturers are facing problems because of continuous steel price rise. Nimish Phadke, managing director of Federation of Kutch Industrial Association (FOKIA), said that export volume needs to be reconsidered.

“In current financial year major steel suppliers have exported 50% of their production resulting in shortage for domestic consumers. We request the government to ban exports for six months for the survival of small domestic players. This is the steepest price since 2008,” Phadke said.Sources said that from Rs 36,500 per ton in July 2020 the price of steel has zoomed to Rs 60,000 at present. With steel being its primary raw material, Rajkot’s engineering industry is bearing the brunt of the steep price rise.Brijesh Dudhagara, former vice president of Rajkot engineering association, said that the profit margins have gone down drastically due to rising price of steel. “We can’t bear the high cost because currently we are not in a condition to recover proportionate price from our customers. I am paying Rs 20 per kg higher for steel but I recover only Rs 11 from my customer as he is not ready to pay more. Prices of some other raw materials have also gone up which is eating away our profit,” Dudhagara said.The demand for engineering products in the domestic market has decreased by 25-30% because of the price rise.