Brass exports down

The annual exports of the Moradabad brassware industry has fallen from Rs 3,300 crore in 2003 to Rs 3,000 crore last year on account of a rise in the price of raw materials and a decline in sales.

Since last year, the price of raw materials like copper and zinc have gone up four times. Copper has jumped from Rs 100 a kg to Rs 400 a kg, while zinc has shot up from Rs 30 a kg to Rs 150 a kg in a year. This has brought down the sales of the brassware manufacturers by 10-20 per cent.

As the cost of raw material and labour have gone up, the price of final products has also gone up substantially. However, companies are unable to pass on the increased cost since the buyer is not ready to absorb the increased cost.

"This has created additional problems for brass workers. Either they need to diversify - shift to aluminium products - convince the customers to pay a higher price," said Iqbal Shamsi, president of the Moradabad Brass Artware Manufacturers and Exporters Association and managing director of Iqbal Paramount Metal Industries.

"In the international market, we have to compete with Chinese products, priced 20 per cent lower. As a result, we are losing customers to China, in addition to absorbing the increased cost of manufacturing," said Shamsi.

According to the Association, there were about 750 export units for brassware products in Moradabad in 2003. But the number has come down to 600 in 2006. There are about 2000 small scale brassware manufacturing units in the city. The industry employs about three lakh people.

Moradabadi brassware is exported to countries like the US, UK, Canada, Germany and West Asia. Of late, other products like iron sheet metalware, aluminium pieces and glassware are also being exported given the demand.

The Uttar Pradesh state government acquired 450 acres of land to develop a new industrial area exclusively for export oriented units in 2000. However, nothing has come up on the land so far, said Shamsi.