Steel makers assure no price hike for 1mth

After almost a week of confrontation, the bulk of the steel industry today assured Finance Minister P Chidambaram that prices will hold for April, after considering a Rs 1,000-2,0000 per tonne increase.

Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman, JSW Steel, said, he had assured the finance minister on behalf of the Indian Steel Alliance (ISA) that the industry would not increase prices. The assurance came after a review meeting today. "It was voluntary. We are with the government," said Jindal.

However, Jindal apparently told Chidambaram that his assurance accounted only 60 per cent of the market, which was represented by ISA members.

The ISA is affiliated to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and its main constituents are the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Essar Steel, JSW Steel, Ispat Industries and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL).

Even though Tata Steel is no longer a part of the ISA, it is unlikely to go against the industry move to keep inflation in check.

For instance, the company slashed steel prices by Rs 2,000 per tonne in August 2004, in view of rising inflation.

Steel Secretary RS Pandey denied that the industry had been pressured to hold prices.

"They are aware of the concerns. If inflation continues to rise, demand will slacken and growth will also slacken, which will impact the industry.

"The industry understands this," Pandey said.