Accra, (Greater Accra Region) 16 Oct. Sethi Brothers Ghana Limited, dealers in iron rods, has described the petition to the President by three steel manufacturing firms to ban or restrict the importation of iron rods, as false and malicious. The company said “we wish to make it clear that the allegations made against us by the local iron rods manufacturers that we have imported 150,000 tons of iron rods to collapse the local industry, are false and smack of nothing but malice”. “They are aimed at tarnishing the good reputation of our company”. A statement issued by the management of Sethi Brothers in Accra yesterday in reaction to the allegations, described the products of the three steel companies, Ferro Fabric Limited, Wahome Steel Company Limited and Tema Steel Works as inferior. It said the products of these steel companies are made of recycled scraps while Sethi Brothers imports high tensile steel from Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS) where 90 per cent of the world’s steel comes from. The statement said the importation of iron rods from CIS countries and elsewhere is not rpt not the cause of decline in sales of the three steel companies. It explained that customers have their preferences and if there is no price difference between the local and imported iron rods, obviously the public will go in for the imported ones which are of better quality and conform to international standards. The statement said although the local manufacturers increased their prices to match those of the imported iron rods, customers have their preferences and they chose the imported ones purchased from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, known for their high quality steel. The statement wondered whether these local industries increased their prices early this year to the level of the imported ones as a pretext for the government to kick Sethi Brothers out of business. The Company said in as much as it cannot stop the president or government from taking any measure they deem beneficial to Ghanaians, it feels the platform should not be created for other manufacturers in paint, nails and related industries to use such false allegations to petition for a ban on the importation of similar products.
