According to preliminary customs data from Bangladesh, imported billet amounts decreased by 90 percent for 2017 compared to the prior year. In 2016, 1.19 million mt of billet were imported into Bangladesh while only 0.12 million mt in 2017.
As less of the semi-finished material entered the market, steel producers in the country increased scrap imports by 28 percent from 1.70 million mt in 2016 to 2.17 million mt in 2017.
The shift is attributed to a government imposed regulatory tariff of 20 percent coupled with a 15 percent VAT on billet imports. Bangladesh has a tariff range from 5 to 25 percent according to the US Embassy data. The Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rate is 15.5 percent.