The rising tensions in West Asia have raised concerns for companies. Due to the increase in the prices of crude oil and other raw materials, the cost is increasing and companies are considering increasing the price. This can lead to an increase in the prices of everyday items like bottled water, salt, oil, consumer durables like ACs, refrigerators to non-surgical medical items.
The reason is that this war has broken the backbone of the plastic industry. In the last 30 days, the prices of raw materials have increased by 50-70%. The most commonly used plastic granules are LDPE, priced at Rs 110/kg. From Rs 180 per kg.
Other polymers and raw materials have also increased by Rs 30,000 to Rs 70,000 per tonne. In such a situation, plastic prices can increase by 50-60% in April. The prices of plastic tanks and containers are expected to increase by 30-40%.
Sunil Shah, president of the All India Plastic Manufacturing Association, says that 5 lakh people are associated with the plastic industry. If the crisis escalates, two to three lakh people may become unemployed. Our demand is that the GST on plastic products be reduced from 18% to 5% till the situation becomes normal. Increase the bank working capital limit to 20%. This will solve the cash flow problem.
