PALSP urges govt taking action against substandard production

November 15, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) has urged the government to take all necessary measures to curb the production and sale of substandard steel in the country.

PALSP secretary Syed Wajid I. Bukhari wrote a letter to Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch and Federal Secretary Ghulam M. Memon informing that around 40 to 50% of the total market remains flooded with sub-standard steel bars in the country mainly due to non-enforcement-of-PSQCA-standards.

“This is a worrying situation as unchecked usage of substandard steel creates national risk for the future generation by compromising over the quality of the infrastructure projects of the country, as Pakistan is located on a seismic zone,” Syed Wajid said in a letter.

According to PSQCA Standard PS-1879-2018 for steel reinforcement bars, rebars should be manufactured by following a complete process of melting refine and rolling with complete temperature controls. Re-rollable scrap and scrap ship plates must not be directly re-rolled into steel bars.

Despite having clear instructions, and guidelines, there is a number of manufacturers who violate the PSQCA laws/standards by producing substandard steel bars by directly rolling plates generated from the ship-breaking industry as well as from imported re-rollable scrap into substandard steel bars.

As per PS-1879-2018 (Pg 5): Material and Manufacture, “The bars shall be rolled from properly identified heats of mold cast or strand cast steel using the electric arc furnace or induction furnace coupled with ladle refining furnace basic oxygen, or open-hearth process from quality meltable steel scrap or its substitute or combination of both. Material of re-rolling scrap and from ship breaking industry is excluded for direct rolling.”

He also mentioned the findings of a research study conducted by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 2005 wherein it clearly mentioned that the major reason for collapsing infrastructure was the usage of substandard steel.

Thus, PALSP emphasized the Ministry of Science & Technology and PSQCA for immediate intervention for taking urgent measures to halt the production of sub-standard steel and ensure the enforcement of PSQCA Act/rules and standards.

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