'Chidambaram to stop customs duty on copper'

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Apr 19: The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association(SIEMA) today urged the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram to abolish customs duty on copper and ensured reduction in the prices of Iron and Steel to save Industries.In a memorandum to Mr Chidambaram, SIEMA President C R Shanmugasundaram said due to inflation and boom in the construction sector, auto component industry and export of engineering products were affected. Naturally, the prices of raw materials had increased, he added.

Mr Shanmugasundaram said in the past few months, prices of iron and steel had been raised by manufacturers and dealers by ten to 20 per cent. The manufacturers were also planning to hike the price by ten to 15 per cent, he alleged.

He said the copper prices were on the rise for the past few weeks and was now hovering around Rs 376 per kg.

UNI