Copper producers switch to provisional pricing; aim to avoid losses

Aim to avoid losses from sudden spurt in procurement costs

In a major shift in strategy, downstream copper producers (manufacturers of wires, cables, pipes and tubes, etc.) have started fixing their product prices on provisional basis, a practice similar to primary metal producers.
 
Earlier, they used to fix product prices on the basis of the cost paid to primary producers, with a one-month lag. This meant the variation in the copper procurement price in January could have been passed on to consumers in February. However, this way many downstream producers used to incur massive losses if the products were sold at a lower cost due to volatile prices on