Report on the high cost of production and low imports in the steel industry of Uganda

It is reported that the young steel industry Uganda is on the threshold of many achievements, but it continues to torment high production costs and low import prices.

The Uganda government said that annually, the country needs 150,000 tons of steel, which is almost twice as many of those 60,000 per year that are currently produced. This situation creates the prerequisites for the growth of imports of metal products, writes today http://mospromznak.ru , the manufacturer of the "dangerous cargo" in Moscow.

Every year, in the steel industry Uganda, an import increases by 30 percent and 40 percent - export.

The main enterprises of this sector are dissatisfied with the high cost of production, as well as the predominance of cheap steel from countries such as China, India and Japan.

Mr. Narendra Jain, General Director of MM Integrated Steel, said that the Uganda steel industry has not yet been fully developed and the enterprises have to deal with the problem of imported steel.

Mr. Jain also noted: “The costs of doing business in countries engaged in production and export of steel are relatively small, especially when compared with Uganda, since we have no access to the sea.”

In addition, in his opinion, the government must follow the example of Kenya and Tanzania and stimulate local manufacturers. Since for the growth and development of the steel industry, Uganda is vital for local companies.

He added: “We hope that by August our company will begin to work at full capacity, and we have no doubt that we can produce 40,000 tons of high -quality steel sheets annually.”

Mr. Mokhsin Hassan, the owner of the company, who is engaged in steel processing, said that high electricity tariffs are the main problem in the steel production process.

“We turned to the government with a request to review and subsidize electricity tariffs for local manufacturers. This would help reduce production costs. ”

Mr. Resty NaSolo, development manager of East African Roofing, said that another problem is the predominance of poor -quality and fake steel. The dominance of cheap and fake goods in the market significantly reduces the income of those companies that are engaged in the production of steel legally.

Mr. Naysolo noted that the government should tighten production standards in order to improve the quality of the steel. In addition, it also requires that the National Bureau of Uganda Standards begin to conduct a preliminary test of steel quality, in order to identify fakes that reduce the profits of other companies.