Small industries battered by spurt in price of raw materials

The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) has sought the intervention of the Union ministry of steel in checking the increase in the prices of raw materials such as copper, aluminium, nickel, pig iron and steel used in the engineering industry.

In a press statement, J Balu, president, Codissia, said that prices of non-ferrous metals, especially copper and aluminium, had nearly doubled. The basic price of copper increased from the last year's Rs 228 per kilogram to Rs 369 per kilogram in March 2006.

He said aluminium price had also witnessed an abnormal increase - Rs 182 a kg, as against Rs 81 a kg last year.

"Such a substantial increase in the prices of raw materials would hit the small and medium enterprises in the Coimbatore region that would not be able to increase the price of products," he added.

Exporters have also been hit by the spurt in prices of raw materials. Many of them have long term contracts to be fulfiled, and are finding it difficult to get a price revision. "If the situation continued like this, many of the engineering units here would find it difficult to survive," he added.

The association said that the increase in prices has come at a time when there is no shortage in the availability of raw materials. He urged the manufacturers to roll back the increase in prices and requested the ministry to intervene and check the price rise.