Withdraw SD in ceramic sanitary ware: manufacturers

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Ceramics makers have demanded withdrawal of the proposed supplementary duty (SD) on sanitary ceramic items to help protect the local industry amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The proposed national price range recommended imposing a 10 % SD on ceramic sink, basin pedestal, commode, toilet bowl and fittings of bathroom and fixtures.

"We will neglect to keep up with the foreign goods if the supplementary duty is normally imposed now," stated Irfan Uddin, standard secretary of Bangladesh Ceramic Suppliers and Exporters Association (BCMEA).

The new SD will create strain on the industry at the same time when it is struggling to survive, said Irfan, also the managing director of FARR Ceramics Ltd.

The trade body placed its demands to the National Board Revenue on June 16.

Bangladesh offers 68 ceramic suppliers, of whom 61 are active in production. Twenty of them produce tableware, 25 tiles and 16 sanitary wares, Irfan said.

But still the united states must import some recycleables such as zirconium silicate, cover coating, printing ink, lavatory chairs and covers, flushing tools, container fitting and concealed normal water tank, he said.

"The customs duty on the products hovers between 15 and 25 per cent, which is an excessive amount of for all of us now as we could not sell a single product within the last 90 days as a result of countrywide shutdown."

Hence, the association also called for lessening the customs duty in import of the merchandise by 20 percentage details to 5 %.

The neighborhood industry produced over 25 crore pieces of tableware, practically 20 crore square metres of tiles and over 83 lakh pieces of sanitary ware in fiscal 2017-18, according to BCMEA.

Bangladeshi manufacturers meet 80 % of the local demand for ceramics goods and the demand has been increasing in 20 % on an average going back few years, Irfan said.

But the demand came to a halt when the government imposed the nationwide closure to regulate the distributed of coronavirus, stated Shirajul Islam Mollah, president of BCMEA.

"It could take at least six months to come back to normalcy and it'll be a long-term challenge for the sector as buyers will focus on purchasing luxury products only after dealing with the coronavirus crisis."

Around Tk 35,000 crore worthwhile of ceramic goods were sold in Bangladesh in 2019 and it has experienced a 200 % growth in production in the last 10 years, based on the association.

In 2018-19, native ceramic makers exported $68.97 million worth of products, posting a 32.79 % year-on-year rise, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.

Bangladesh now holds 0.14 percent of the global ceramic industry and ships its goods to 50 countries, like the USA, the UK, Canada and Europe and Latin America.

Businesses have up to now invested Tk 9,000 crore in the local ceramics sector and provided jobs to five lakh workers, of whom 40 per cent are girls, Irfan said.

"Fifteen new entities are preparing to enter Bangladesh industry and five of these will soon start investing here."

The sector is yet to be export-oriented but still it has a enormous potential, he said.

The ceramics sector was completely import dependent simply 15 years ago, however now local manufacturers have received trust of the domestic and global consumers, he said.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

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