Re-rolling and steel millers explained the syndication is creating monopoly in scrap selling business, pushing prices of finished products unusually high. To increase prices, ship-breakers sometimes create artificial crisis of scrap, used as the raw material in the re-rolling and steel mills, they added.

Responding to the allegations, ship-breakers said they are doing business under partnership, not syndication and announced that they would form a company and sell the scrap to the re-rolling and steel millers through this subsidiary.

The leading associations involved in ship-breaking and re-rolling and steel mills sat at FBCCI in Dhaka yesterday to discuss the reasons behind high scrap prices and solve the existing problems in becoming the member of ship-breakers' association.

President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Abdul Awal Mintoo said he would sit with both the associations separately to narrow differences between the ship-breakers and re-rolling and still millers.

Speaking at the meeting, Jannatul Islam, general secretary of Steel Scrap Buyers Association, said: "We are forced to buy scrap from the ship-breakers at high prices as we don't have alternative sources."

"Ship-breakers often stop selling scrap to us," he said alleging that ship-breakers recently stopped selling scrap to the re-rolling mills.

The steel millers also said ship-breakers demand Tk5 lakh for enlisting a new membership.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice-president of Bangladesh Ship Breaking Association Yasin Ali said ship-breakers sold 1,300 tonnes scrap on an average per day to the steel millers last month and the allegation of sale halt is not correct.

On price hike, he said production cost of scrap is Tk 33,500 per tonne. "But steel millers want to buy it below production cost and even they do not want to buy it at Tk31,000 per tonne. So, what can we do for them?"

About imposing restriction on new membership, he said it is not true that ship breakers association is not enlisting new members. Rather it approved 10 new membership in 2003-04 and five membership in the current fiscal year.

"If anybody can fulfil the terms and conditions in becoming a member of ship breaking association, we can't stop him or her," Yasin explained.

He admitted that the association takes Tk 5 lakh from the new members to establish a hospital but it is not for the enlistment purpose.

Other leaders of Bangladesh Steel Mill Owners Association and Bangladesh Re-rolling Mills Association also spoke at the meeting.