The ship-breaking of Bangladesh comes again to a halt
For indefinite period early this month as the High Court re-imposed a year-old ban Prices of steel products, mainly that of mild steel (MS) rods are likely to soar in Bangladesh as the ship-breaking industry, the main source of the metal, is virtually out of operation for more than a year over environmental row, traders said. A metric tonne of MS rods is now being sold between Taka 54,000 and Taka 61,000, depending on their grades in retail market.The ship-breaking was halted again for indefinite period early this month as the High Court re-imposed a year-old ban which it had lifted in May for two months under certain environmental pre-conditions.The output of the sector might be the lowest in 2011 as few ships were either dismantled or left half-done due to the ban on ship-breaking, following litigations filed by a leading group of environmentalists.In Bangladesh, one of the top ship recycling nations from 2004 through 2008, scrapped ships have been the main source of steel to meet the country's requirement of some four million metric tonnes a year.In 2010 only 130 ships were dismantled to retrieve 1.3 million tonnes of steels for re-use or recycling in 800 steel re-rolling mills ...
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