Uttam Galva, a leading producer and exporter of value-added steel, has increased the rates of its galvanised and cold-rolled items by up to Rs 2,250 a tonne, citing shortage of a key intermediary product as the reason.
On galvanised products, which are used by construction and white good sectors, the company has upped the rate by Rs 2,250 a tonne, while on cold-rolled steel items, consumed by automobile and consumer durable industry, it has increased the prices by Rs 1,000 a tonne.
Post-price hike, a tonne of galvanised steel would cost Rs 41,250 while cold-rolled (CR) steel Rs 33,000 (sans taxes).
Uttam Galva Director (Commercial) Ankit Miglani confirmed the price hike, but said it has been done in phases from April onward.
Asked about the reason for the price revision, he said there is a "shortage of hot-rolled (HR) coils from domestic suppliers", resulting in a demand-supply mismatch.
HR coil is an intermediary product required for making CR and galvanised steel products. The domestic producers meet 70 per cent of Uttam Galva's HR coil requirement.
The secondary steel producer manufactured about six lakh tonnes of the commodity last fiscal, of which 70 per cent was galvanised and the rest cold-rolled. It exports value-added steel to over 141 countries, including the US.