A government body has suggested providing 10 per cent cash incentive facility on export of ferro alloy chemicals conditionally - to boost export volume and increase competitiveness in the global market, sources said.
The state agency, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC), has recently submitted a report, recommending the cash incentive for ferro alloy chemicals (ferro manganese, ferro silicon, and silicon manganese) at the same rate like chlorine, hydrochloric acid, caustic soda, and hydrogen per-oxide, they added.
Currently, the government provides 10 per cent cash incentive against export of chlorine, hydrochloric acid, caustic soda, and hydrogen per-oxide.
According to the conditions, ferro alloy chemicals should not be exported at lower prices than their actual prices.
Besides, the facility would be reviewed every year to decide whether to continue it or not.
Currently, the country's annual demand for ferro manganese is 2,800 tonnes, ferro silicon 4,000 tonnes, and silicon manganese 80,000 tonnes.
The ferro manganese, ferro silicon, and silicon manganese products are now being exported to the EU, Japan, India and Hong Kong.
In fiscal year 2020-21, the country produced 2,199 tonnes of ferro manganese, 4,006 tonnes of ferro silicon, and 36,960 tonnes of silicon manganese.
The BTTC thought that the supply of such items is more than the country's demand.
The entity mentioned that it is possible to reduce their production cost by using maximum production capacity, if the cash incentive facility is given to the sector.
"We have received an opinion about providing cash incentive facility to ferro alloy chemicals from the BTTC that asked us to submit opinions in this regard," an official concerned said.
Ferro manganese, a ferro alloy with high content of manganese, is used as a de-oxidizer for steel. Ferro silicon is an alloy of iron and silicon. It is produced by reduction of silica or sand with coke in presence of iron.
Silicon manganese adds additional silicon, which is a stronger de-oxidant. A very specific application of refined manganese alloy is a constituent in the coating of welding electrodes.
