Detergent prices to rise as chemical duty kicks in

Consumers are staring at a second hike in prices of detergents within a fortnight, with the government slapping an anti-dumping duty on a key input in manufacturing detergents.

While the first price hike, at the start of the 2017-18 financial year, was done in anticipation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the second one will be on account of the duty imposed on linear alkyl benzene (LAB).

On Monday, LAB, a chemical that constitutes 70 per cent of a detergent, was slapped with a $50 to $300 a tonne anti-dumping duty on imports from Iran, Qatar and China. In percentage terms,