Raw material crisis may lead to closure of many SME steel wire units Industry body

    Kolkata, Oct 18 (PTI) Steel wire makers, belonging to
the labour-intensive small and medium enterprises sector, are
facing acute raw material shortage that may lead to the
closure of several units, a senior industry body official
said on Sunday.
    About 100 units in the organised sector that offer
employment to about five lakh workers in the country are
already operating below 50 per cent of their rated capacity,
and if the crisis prolongs, then many will have to close down,
the official said.
    The wire makers have sought government intervention to
ensure raw material supply, and a window for imports of
specialised items that are not produced in the country.
    "The industry is facing acute shortage of high-grade
wire rods, the main raw material for wire production,
which has varied application in nation-building," Steel Wire
Manufacturers Association secretary-general Tirthankar
Banerjee told PTI.
    "The paucity of high-grade wire rods is 50 per cent,
and it is due to inadequate domestic supply and import
restrictions," he said.
    The association urged the Union government to ask
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to streamline its
specialised wire rods plant at Burnpur, and advice Rashtriya
Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and other private steel makers to
supply raw materials in adequate quantity to the SME sector at
fair prices. PTI BSM SBN
RBT RBT

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)