Domestic steelmakers raise product prices for a second straight month

While steel producers expect the market to embrace price hike, industry officials are of the view that the consumer is not ready and continuous hikes of this kind may not be sustainable

In a bid to address margin compression and in anticipation of demand pick-up, domestic primary steel producers have raised product prices by 2.5-3 per cent for December.

“Since margins have become unsustainable, cost pressures versus the steel product price is not helping producers meet ends. This is the primary reason for the product price hike this month (December),” Jayant Acharya, director (commercial & marketing) at JSW Steel told Business Standard.

The December price hike is happening for the second consecutive month. In November, producers raised steel product prices between Rs 500 a tonne and Rs 1,000 a tonne, after a gap of