Home textile exporters of Karur, who will get buoyed when the rupee value dips, are stunned — not at the Indian currency’s free fall, but at their buyers’ adamant attitude in not sharing the monetary difference with them.
The exporters are enduring a double whammy — primarily they are unable to cash in on the rupee value depreciation whereby they could have gained some money and second they are not able to fix the price for the season ahead as the buyers dither on quotation expecting further fall.
The Karur textile exporters, like their ilk elsewhere in the country, used to laugh their way to the bank even as the common man was coming to grips with the effects of rupee depreciation on fuel prices.
The positive difference in the dollar-rupee balancing act would be pocketed by the textile exporters who used to gain a small margin through that.
But those were times when the rupee would stage a smart rally after a minor fall and the joy of the exporters would be short lived. But these days, the rupee has been battered by bouts of free fall that have never been witnessed in the trading history.
The rupee that quoted at Rs. 54 against one American dollar a few months ago is tottering at Rs. 65 for a dollar now.
Worse, there is no guarantee that it might stabilise somewhere in that region and the volatility remain as the rupee has plummeted 16 per cent against the American dollar during the current fiscal itself.
The problem gets accentuated as exporters are not able to fix the price for the consignments for the season ahead, adds his industry friend and competitor. “Even if we are able to come up with a price tag after juggling with the calculator, the buyer is not in a mood and shows the wait sign indicating that he would prefer to enjoy a further depreciation rather than help me with the pricing now,” he says.
