Steel is likely to get costlier after the New Year, with major steel-makers indicating another price hike from January due to surging raw materials.
"Steel prices are likely to move upwards further due to increasing coal and iron ore prices. It seems there will be a severe cost pressure on steel mills, which will lead to a price hike in January," JSW Steel's Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Sharad Mahendra told PTI here.
"It is very difficult to say the exact hike (on amount basis) that would happen in January, but in terms of percentage it could be between three to five (per cent) per tonne," he said, adding both coal and iron ore prices were expected to rise in future.
Coking coal and iron ore prices have gone up from USD 220 to USD 230 per tonne and from USD 130 to USD 150 per tonne, respectively.
Industry players expect these raw materials' prices to rise further in the near future and, thereby, foresee a likely increase in steel prices between Rs 1,000-1,200 per tonne in January.
Steel makers like Steel Authority of India (SAIL) recently increased prices of its products by Rs 300-500 per tonne while JSW Steel raised its hot-rolled coil prices by 1-1.5 per cent.
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Essar Steel has also indicated that steel prices are expected to go up further due to rise in coal and iron ore costs and the firming-up of global steel prices on the back of a recovery (in demand) in China.
"We expect steel prices to go up in January due to higher raw material costs... Globally, steel prices are at an improved level, it is because of high raw material prices. We expect steel prices to go up over three per cent per tonne in January," Essar Steel's Executive Director (Sales and Marketing) Vikram Amin said.
"Input costs have gone up substantially and the margins are tight now. As both coal and iron ore prices have soared substantially in the recent past, we expect another price hike in January," he said.