The proposed budget for the financial year 2013-14 issued by
Bangladesh's Ministry of Finance suggests imposing ad valorem duty on
billet imports, citing the large amount of recent investments made to add 1.8-2 million mt of new capacities to domestic
billet production, once these new investments reach full capacity. In the interim period, the existing duty on
billet imports standing at BDT 2,500/mt ($32/mt) is expected to rise to BDT 3,500/mt ($45/mt) to protect the growing new industries from uneven competition from foreign billets.
While rolling mills express their concerns about the new adjustments on
billet import duty, local
billet producers state that such a small duty increase is not sufficient to close the gap between the production cost of local billets and the market price of imported ones, according to
Bangladesh-based English language daily Financial Express.