| Although no company has announced the exact increase in price, industry observers say that prices of hot-rolled (HR) coils are likely to rise by Rs 500 per tonne to Rs 29,500 per tonne in early January. |
| A senior executive with a primary steel producer confirmed the price hike. "Major steel players are scheduled to meet in the coming week to decide on the price trend in the January quarter. There is a possibility of a price rise by around Rs 300-500 per tonne." |
| With the holiday season drawing to a close, world steel prices are expected to rise. |
| "Although domestic steel prices are one of the lowest in the world, it is likely that domestic steel players will look at an increase in the new year," he added. |
| A steel sector analyst said, "Since annual and quarterly contracts come up for renewal in January, there is likely to be a price rise even in the long-term contracts segment. However, these contract prices are not always tied to the spot prices and therefore it is not possible to estimate the hike." |
| Jindal Iron & Steel Company (Jisco) and Ispat Industries had raised domestic HR coil prices by Rs 350 in the first week of December to account for the 15 per cent rise in rail freight. |
| Long steel product prices had gone up in November by Rs 1,000 per tonne. This was the first instance of a hike in steel prices in fiscal 2004-05. |
| In March 2004, the Centre had asked major players to hold on the price level till June end. |
| However, there was no price hike even after June. In fact, in August Tata Steel announced a price cut by Rs 2,000 per tonne on HR coil. This was followed by other steel majors. |
| "It is unclear what the price trend in 2005 will be since the cost of inputs, especially iron, has gone up considerably. Annual contracts of iron ore have been negotiated at almost 25 per cent higher prices than in the previous year," an industry source said. |
| Prices of coal are also likely to go up by 20 per cent in 2005. |
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