Operators lament hike in price of steel products
By Owoleye Oluwakayode
Operators in the iron rod business have decried the recent hike in the price of steel products in the country, noting that the trend, if not checked, may cripple the nation’s economy.
Speaking with our correspondent in Lagos, the national president of the Iron Rod Distributors Association of Nigeria (IRDAN), Chief Gbenga Awoyale, described the hike in the price of steel products in the past three months called for government intervention.
Chief Awoyale, who spoke on the sideline of a parley with the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria (NASWDEN), said that “We are baffled by the undue inflation of iron rods in the last few months and its adverse effects on our businesses and the consequential effect on the national economy.
“That is why we have come to engage our sister association, the NASDWEN, being the major source of raw materials for manufacturers.
“Our interactions with the National President of National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria (NASWDEN), Comrade John Egaji Obeh, showed that they have not increased per ton price of iron scrap to the manufacturers.
“It is, however, disturbing that manufacturers increased the per ton price of iron rods by about 150 percent, even when the cost of production is just about 40 per cent of the initial cost of sales before the artificial inflation.”
Nigerian NewsDirect revealed that the iron scrap supplied by its members constitute 90 percent of factor inputs in steel production and we wonder the rationale behind 150 per cent increase in the product when the scrap price remains constant.
He added that: “As of June 2021, a ton of iron rod was N300,000 but was arbitrarily increased to N450,000 as we speak. Now, the majority of contractors have abandoned projects sites as prices of iron rods become unbearable to avoid running at loss.
“How will you explain quoting a job for N300,000 per ton of iron and you end up spending N450,000?” he queried.
The association urged the Nigerian government and National Assembly to rise to the occasion and checkmate the undue inflationary trend, which it said is the handiwork of some “expatriates.”
