The government on May 10 notified the imposition of upto 15 per cent export duty on various steel products to discourage export and increase domestic availability. The export duty on cold rolled coils, hot rolled coils and galvanised sheets is at the rate of 15, 10 and 5 per cent, respectively.
Steel secretary R S Pandey said the domestic prices of steel have softened by 10-15 per cent since April this year and are much lower as compared to international prices.
On rising steel prices, Paswan said the government has no objection to an increase in steel prices. He, however, added that any price increase should be in tune with the cost-push in raw materials. "The price monitoring committee has found that in recent times, there has been a price increase higher than the actual jump in input costs. That is why we asked them to cut prices".
