API cost increase to hit pharma firms' profit

Domestic pharmaceutical companies' are worried, as their dependence on China for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) is costing them dearly. 
 
In the past two months, the prices of API imported from China have gone up by 30-50 per cent. This has hit their margins. A 30 per cent increase in API cost could impact the margin on domestic sales by 1.5 to 3 per cent, said Amey Chalke, analyst with HDFC Securities.
 
API refers to raw materials and intermediaries used in drugs. Over the past decade, local drugmakers have curtailed production of these raw materials, and in some cases