Copper Price Surge Jolts Coimbatore MSMEs; Orders Hit

Small and medium enterprises in Coimbatore are reeling after copper prices doubled within a year to ₹1,500 a kg, pushing raw material costs from ₹500 to nearly ₹1,000. The surge is squeezing margins, denting sales and swelling debt loads across the cluster. Local manufacturers want the government to set up a steel price monitoring committee, exempt steel imports from the safeguard duty through March 2027, and ease restrictions on imports of copper and aluminium scrap.