Steel rod prices have fallen below Tk 90,000 per tonne for the first time in more than three years, as construction demand continues to fall amid reduced government spending and economic uncertainty.
The retail price of 60-grade mild steel (MS) rod, widely used by construction sites and infrastructure projects, dropped 12 percent year-on-year last week to between Tk 85,000 and Tk 89,000 per tonne, down from Tk 97,500 to Tk 99,500 a year ago, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data.
Prices are now lower than they were on March 23, 2022, when a tonne sold for Tk 91,500. At its peak in mid-2024, the price neared Tk 1 lakh.
Before the political changeover in August last year, the country consumed around 6.5 lakh tonnes of MS rod each month, according to the Bangladesh Steel Manufacturers Association (BSMA). Since then, demand has steadily declined to about 4 lakh tonnes in recent months, a drop of roughly 35 percent.
