The Hindu Business Line : Industrialists protest against raw materials price rise

Joining hands: Representatives of industry associations marching in protest against the steep rise in iron and steel pricesin Coimbatore on Saturday. – K. Ananthan

Our Bureau

Coimbatore, April 13 Representatives of various industry organisations in Coimbatore took out a march here on Saturday to protest against the rise in the price of industrial raw materials and to seek the intervention of the Government of India to bring down their prices.

They feared that the continued increase in raw material cost without any corresponding increase in product price would lead to closure of industries causing widespread job losses.

They took out a rally from VOC Park to the Red Cross building near the Collectorate. Among those who participated in the rally were Mr D. Balasundaram, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore (ICCIC); Mr C. Muthusami, President, Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia); and Mr C.R. Shanmughasundaram, President, the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (Siema).

In a representation to the District Collector, the organisations said the price of major industrial raw materials like pig iron, coke, copper, brass, plastics and aluminium had gone up significantly in the past few months resulting in industrial slow down.

In the case of iron and steel, the price increase has been on a “weekly basis since January 2008”, they said.

The price of pig iron, which was ruling at Rs 22,000/tonne in April 2007, has spiralled to Rs 34,500/tonne in April 2008. The price of construction steel has moved up from Rs 31,600/tonne to Rs 55,000/tonne and structural steel price has gone up from Rs 31,000/tonne to Rs 53,500/tonne during the same period.

Met coke’s price has more than doubled from Rs 14,500/tonne to Rs 30,000/tonne in one year and the price of CR Sheet/plates had gone up from Rs 31,000/tonne to Rs 56,000/tonne. Other metals like aluminium, zinc, chromium and stainless steel have also not escaped the price hike.

The increase has hit severely the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the engineering sector that were struggling to meet their commitments at contracted rates. They said the situation was so grave that many companies are contemplating to down shutters as they are unable to absorb further losses. They cautioned that loss of production would lead to job losses, affecting the entire economy.

The memorandum urged the Government of India to intervene and ensure that the prices of basic raw materials were brought down quickly before the “situation goes out of hand”.

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