)
Leading domestic steel makers SAIL, Essar Steel, Jindal Steel and Power and JSW Steel have raised prices by up to Rs 2,500 per tonne for this month due to sharp increase in input costs.
The sharp fall of rupee against other currencies, mainly the US dollar, rise in oil prices and transportation costs are some of the major reason for the hike, JSPL's Deputy Managing Director and CEO Steel Business V R Sharma told PTI.
The prices have gone up by 4-5%.
"Everybody was bleeding, prices had rock bottomed in last 3 months. Now the demand is picking up and market can absorb the price hike," he added.
Other leading steel makers like Tata Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam are also in the process of increasing the prices, industry sources said. It could not be verified independently.
Among the steel majors, the steepest hike has been from JSPL which has raised the price of steel plates by about Rs 2,500 per tonne. The company also increased prices of wire rod and rebars by about Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,500 per tonne.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has hiked prices by about 3-4% for the current month, sources said. For HR-coil and CR-coil, SAIL's price hike has been in the range of Rs 1,700-1,750 per tonne. The company has raised long steel products price by about 1,000 per tonne.
Similarly, Essar Steel, which produces only flat steel products, has raised the prices by up to Rs 1,500 tonne, while JSW Steel's price increase has been in the range of Rs 1,500- 2,000 per tonne for its flat products, sources said.
An Essar Steel spokesperson confirmed the price hike but did not comment on the quantum of increase. Comments from SAIL and JSW Steel could not be obtained. The companies have hiked the prices depending on the grades of their products.
After the hike, ex-factory prices of plates are in the range of Rs 35,000-40,000 per tonne, while TMT and wire rod prices are in the range of Rs 36,500 per tonne to Rs 39,000 per tonne.
The price hike has been necessitated by the fact that rupee has depreciated by over 20% in last few months, leading to sharp increase in raw material and other input costs, a top official of a leading Western India based steel company said.
He added that expectations of rise in demand during the upcoming festive season is another reason behind the hike.
Prices at various domestic steel mandis including Mandi Gobindgarh, Durgapur, Raipur, Ludhiana, Delhi and Mumbai, have shot up in the range of Rs 800 to Rs 1,300 per tonne for the current month. Small and medium scale producers, who account for about one-third of India's total steel production, use these markets.
Flat steel products are used in industries like automobile and consumer durables, while long steel products like TMT bars and angles are used in the construction sector.
