The association leaders at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity office also refuted the allegation of price manipulation against them, saying the MS rod manufacturers (re-rollers) have nothing to do with the unprecedented price hike of MS rod's retail prices.

They said they determine the wholesale prices of finished products on the basis of the raw material prices to set a reasonable pricing. The mill rate of per ton rod yesterday was Tk 32,000 while the retail price was no less than Tk 8,000 to 10,000 higher.

"We have no control either over the retail market prices or the raw material supply," said association President Badiul Alam," "We are neither middlemen nor do we stockpile."

"We cannot influence the market anyway and we even cannot hold back finished products either as we have to incur loss for that," said its General Secretary Masadul Alam.

The acute raw material supply crisis has put the entire steel industry with over 300 re-rolling mills and 100 steel mills at stake, they said.

The price of per ton MS scrap rose from Tk 16,000 to Tk 32,000 and Garda iron from Tk 12,000 to Tk 24,000 over a short span, they said. The C& F (clearing and forwarding) price of per ton ship scrap in the international market rose from $180 to $400 while per ton melting scrap rose from $150 to$300, virtually hiking the price of MS rods.

As a result, the government's import duty waiver on scrap did not make much difference in checking rod price hike, the association leaders said.

Traditionally, steel mills and re-rollers depend on ship breaking for at least 70 percent of the raw materials, they said.

They called upon the government to facilitate re-rollers' import of melting scrap, re-rollable scrap and sponge iron as substitute raw materials to reduce dependence on ship-breaking instead of encouraging MS rod import.

They also called for government control over the iron raw material market.