The National Tariff Commission (NTC) will hold a public hearing on 26 July to deliberate upon exempting customs duty on the import of rubber/tyre scrap.

According to an NTC statement issued on Tuesday, Lucky Cement Limited approached the NTC to seek exemption of customs duty on import of rubber/tyre scrap, considering the increasing energy and coal prices. As a result, a public hearing will be held in the Commission’s hearing room, located in the State Life Building in Islamabad.

In its application, Lucky Cement argued that it was the leading producer of Portland cement and has invested INR38bn (US$854.7m) by creating job opportunities for more than 4000 people in the remote areas of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Sindh. Moreover, the company said it is a leading cement exporter and has brought in U$170m in revenues for the country. However, the present increase in energy prices, primarily the rise in coal prices from US$85/t to US$140/t, has put the cement exporters in an uncompetitive and difficult situation.