Pakistan steel: Two ships carrying raw material to arrive this month

KARACHI:

Two ships carrying raw material, including iron ore and coal, for Pakistan Steel Mills (PS) are scheduled to arrive this month, a spokesperson for PS said on Wednesday.

The ships are bringing 55,000 tons of Iranian fine iron ore and 55,000 tons of coal, which will help PS maintain its production level, he said. The current management is trying to maintain supply chain of raw material to avoid any circumstantial closure of PS, he added.

Due to its low-capacity utilisation, PS is currently facing an accumulated loss of about Rs40 billion and its total liabilities, as of September 15, are Rs55.497 billion.

However, salaries of PS workers and officers are being paid regularly. Salaries of all workers and officers for August have already been disbursed, he said. He said that the drop in capacity utilisation was due to high prices of coal in the international market in April-June and July-September quarters.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd,  2011.