COIMBATORE: The Railway Suppliers Association and the Coimbatore Compressor Industries Association (COCIA) have written to Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami requesting him to reconsider the decision to shut down the Sterlite copper plant in Tuticorin.
They said refined copper production has come down by 50% since the plant’s closure in May 2018, which in turn has led to prices of the metal to shoot up by 85% recently.
Both associations said before lockdown, copper price was at Rs 380 per kg. However, since then, it has spiked to Rs 712 per kg which is a hike of 85% within a year.
“During February month alone, price has increased by 21%, and banks estimate that copper price will reach Rs 1000 per kg,” said COCIA president M Raveendran.
“While closure of the Sterlite plant lead to refined copper production to fall by more than 50%, import of the same increased by 120% in 2018-19, and further increased by 70% in 2019-20,” he said.
The government has been requested to reconsider the decision to close the Sterlite plant permanently because the associations believe that increase in indigenous copper production will shield small industries from further price increase.
Industries also requested the government to adopt dual pricing policy with all major copper plants, compelling them to offer reasonable prices to Indian manufacturers and also abolish customs duty on import of copper scrap.