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FG urged to ban exportation of scrap metals

By on February 9, 2014

The Federal Government has been urged to protect the aluminium extrusion and steel industry by putting a stop to exportation of scrap metals, as it is hindering growth in the sector.

Managing Director/CEO, Tower Aluminium Nig. Plc, Dr. Jinesh Chandra Dugad made the call in an interview with Vanguard in Lagos.

Dugad, who lamented the impact of unfriendly government policies on aluminium manufacturers, also called for a separate interest rate regime for manufacturing and agriculture sector, saying that double digit interest rate is a disincentive to growth of the economy and job creation.

He said: “In protecting the aluminium industry in Nigeria, the government should ban exportation of scraps so that we will not be short of raw materials used in our local production. Exporters of those scraps do nothing significant; all they do is put the scraps on export, yet they get incentives. “The government will be doing local manufacturers of aluminium great if they can place an unconditional ban on the export of scraps since we don’t make the products from iron ore, presently.”

“If you are exporting a finished product, which has value added, then it has a meaning if such export has incentives. But to export scraps which have no value added and then you get 20 percent, 40 percent incentives, it makes no meaning.

“So, the aluminium sector in Nigeria needs a very urgent attention of the government in the area of incentives and policy change because aluminium is vital in building and the more you encourage its manufacturing in a way that it is locally produced, the products can then compete perfectly with what is imported, housing will be very cheap and housing should be made cheap and affordable because of its necessity in human lives,” he added.

Dugad said it was high time the government replicated the success story it recorded in Cement industry that has made the nation self-sufficient in cement production in steel and aluminium industry, saying that so far, Tower Aluminium is the only rolling mills functional in Nigeria.

“For example, Nigeria has become self-sufficient in cement. It did not just happen, but because the government created a policy, enabling environment and incentives, which favoured the manufacturers of cement.

“They have been allowed to import cement from the foreign market but at the same time, they were encouraged by the policy to put up the facilities here and so whatever money is made from importation of cement is put on ground here to start manufacturing cement locally. Lafarge is expanding so much because of this type of policy; same thing with Dangote Cement.”

 

 

 

 

[Vanguard]

One Comment

  1. msa

    February 9, 2014 at 7:31 am

    Can they consume all our scrap? If they are ready to buy all at good rates fine.