BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26
Trend:
The Uzbek Antimonopoly Committee has considered the restrictions on import of certain metal products, including wire rod, Trend reports referring to www.kun.uz
The Committee refers to the decision of the Republican Anti-Crisis Commission dated May 11, 2020 to support the activity of a number of local producers during the pandemic (in particular, Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex JSC, Uzmetkombinat JSC, Uzikkilamchiranglyglimetal JSC and Tashkent Metallurgical Plant), which may limit the interests of other rolled metal manufacturers.
The preliminary analysis showed that presently, 34 enterprises produce 14,700 tons of finished wire rod products per year.
“What do individual manufacturers stress in their appeals to the Committee? The individual manufacturers say that the local wire rod products do not meet quality standards as enterprises do not produce primary metal products, but produce scrap metal (secondary raw materials). Mechanical and physical properties of the metal are not preserved in the technological process, which in turn requires the import of raw materials for metal roll," said the committee.
“This starting capacity will be unable to meet the needs of manufacturers in metal rolling (various wire products, such as special wire, screws, bolts), which will negatively affect the competitiveness of enterprises both in the domestic and foreign markets,” the committee said. “The export potential will decrease. The production will sharply drop and, ultimately, people will lose jobs.”
To eliminate such situation when the preferential conditions were created for certain enterprises and to create equal opportunities for all manufacturers, based on the requirements of the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan “About guarantees of freedom of business activity” and “On competition”, the Antimonopoly Committee made proposals to the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade and to the Cabinet of Ministers.
The proposals on the revision of the relevant paragraphs of the protocol of the meeting of the Republican Anti-Crisis Commission on May 11, 2020 and on the transfer of imported wire rod to the customs regime of free circulation in the Republic of Uzbekistan were made.