March 24: The prices of electronic appliances such as wire, fans, cables, chargers and batteries have increased in the market. Traders say that the companies have increased the price citing increase in the price of raw materials in the international market.

Sudarshan Neupane, president of the Electronic Trade Association, told New Business Age that the price of electronic goods have increased since the prices of raw materials including copper, aluminum, iron and PVC have increased.

According to him, as the prices of such raw materials have doubled at present the prices of goods have also increased at the same rate.

The price of copper, which was US$ 4,800 per ton before the lockdown, has increased to US$ 9,000. Similarly, the price of PVC, which was Rs 108 per kg, is now Rs 160. Aluminum, copper and PVC are used in most types of materials including wires, cables, fans, switches.

Similarly, the prices of battery chargers, headphones and other items used in laptops and mobiles have also doubled. The price of a Dell laptop battery, which used to cost Rs 3,000 before the lockdown, has now reached Rs 7,000. Similarly, the price of a Dell laptop charger that used to be Rs 700 has now reached Rs 1,500. The price of headphones, which used to be Rs 400, has also gone up by Rs 200 to Rs 600.

Traders say that besides the increase in the price of raw materials in the international market, the transportation cost while importing the goods has also increased the price of electronic goods. Likewise, they say, the uncertainty of opening and closing of the northern border is also a major factor. Prior to this, they used to import electrical goods especially through Kerung and Tatopani checkpoints.

“Due to the uncertainty of brining goods through these customs, we have to import goods by ship through the India ports of Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. While doing so, it takes a long time and also increases the transportation cost,” said Raju Shrestha, a trader at Techno Computer, New Road.

According to him, the fare of containers imported through Indian route has doubled compared to normal circumstances.