The recent imposition of a stricter Covid-19-related lockdown across Bangladesh has left the densely populated country's steel sector facing several difficult short-term challenges, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday July 6.
Surging numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Bangladesh from the middle of June onward led authorities to put in place a strict one-week lockdown starting on July 1. The government then announced on July 5 that it would
extend the lockdown for at least another week.
The Bangladeshi army and police have been patrolling streets to ensure that people only leave their homes for emergencies, and there have been restrictions on some business activity.
Scores of people have fled the larger cities to return to their home villages amid the new restrictions, creating a lack of workers in key economic centers such as the capital, Dhaka.
Although the country's steel sector can continue to produce as normal, market sources in the Bangladeshi market told Fastmarkets that mill operations were under threat from several other factors.
Scrap demand falls
One key problem was a stoppage of purchasing activity...