Pakistani PM Urged to Tackle Steel Smuggling From Iran, Afghanistan

Pakistan’s steel industry has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif take action against ongoing smuggling of steel from neighboring countries, which is inflicting huge losses on the national exchequer.
A letter, written by the Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers to the prime minister on Monday, said it was encouraging to know that the government was taking strict action against smuggling, which was a serious threat to the country’s economy, The News International reported on Tuesday.
“Effectively addressing smuggling could be a low hanging fruit for the government in this difficult economic situation, as the country can reap immediate benefits by halting this menace,” said the letter.
The letter said large-scale smuggling of steel from Iran and Afghanistan, coupled with some other factors, was destroying the local steel industry. The industry is fighting on many fronts for survival and facing a very challenging situation due to massive currency depreciation, high financial cost and a massive increase in cost of different inputs, it added.
The production activity was suspended due to the shortage of raw materials, and many mills were working at a small fraction of their capacity, it added. 
The letter said approximately 500,000 tons of steel were being smuggled from two neighboring countries annually, which was approximately 10% of the total steel production in the country. 
According to a conservative estimate, the menace was causing revenue loss of around Rs25 billion to the national exchequer annually.
The letter claimed that over 80% of steel being sold in Balochistan was coming from Iran through smuggling. It said during March 2023, large trucks/trailers smuggling steel from Iran were caught in Lahore and customs department lodged cases against the smugglers. 
In the first week of April, a truck full of steel overturned near the Chaman border. The steel rebars were being smuggled from Afghanistan through Chaman border.