Coimbatore foundries to go on Strike
According to Small Foundry association in Coimbatore, the small foundries will close down their shutters from October 22 in protest against Govt's failure to control prices of key raw materials like pig iron & scrap etc.
The association took the decision as their survival was at stake due to steep hike in the prices of pig iron & scrap & metcoke. The 600 odd small foundries in Coimbatore produce approx 350,000 MT of castings annually.
The price of pig iron & scrap has gone up by 25% during last 4-5 months causing extreme hardship to the small foundries. The landing cost of pig iron was Rs. 20,300 a tonne in June this year and it is Rs. 25,000 now. The price of scarp was Rs. 16,000 a tonne in June and it had gone up to Rs. 19,500 a tonne now. The retail prices were nearly 15 per cent higher than the wholesale rates and most of the small and tiny foundries sourced these raw materials from the retail market. Govt can help by reducing import duty on scrap, pig iron & metcoke to nil
The engineering units and pump manufacturing industries depend on castings produced by such foundries & therefore it will affect working of these units too. The industry gives employment to over 2 lakh workers directly & another 2 lakh indirectly. The livelihood of these workers will also be at stake if the Govt does not take immediate measures to counter the steep hike in raw material prices used in foundries
Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association and the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association have supported the proposed indefinite strike by the members of the Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners' Association.
Members of the Tamilnadu Pumps and Spares Manufacturers' Association have decided to stop work on October 22 in as a token of support to the proposed strike by the small foundries in Coimbatore.
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