Date:05/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/05/stories/2008030556242100.htm

Business

Aluminium dealers slam reports of price dip

Staff Reporter

‘Traders are in serious trouble’

KOCHI: The Aluminium Dealers’ Forum (ADF), the body representing those in the aluminium business in the State, has slammed reports of product prices coming down after an excise duty cut of two per cent in the Union Budget.

Such reports were confusing and would cause uncertainties in the market, an ADF statement said here.

Though India was a leader in world aluminium production, it was the London Metal Exchange (LME) that controlled the price of aluminium, the statement said. Traders were in serious trouble, it added.

Aluminium prices had gone up 30 per cent over the last 40 days due to problems in China, which is the leading aluminium producer, the statement added.

The ADF felt that a new pricing mechanism involving a consensus among producers and consumers should be evolved.