Steel companies not to raise prices in July

Domestic steel companies will continue with the current prices and not raise them in July despite the rise in Chinese steel prices.

Steel majors Tata Steel, Jindal Iron & Steel Company, Ispat Industries and Essar Steel, were to review steel prices after June 30 as they had agreed to freeze steel prices in March for three months.

In March, international hot rolled coil prices had peaked at $560-$570 plus, leading to all time high prices in the domestic steel markets at around Rs 27,000 per tonne.

The government had then asked the steel companies to maintain prices at the Rs 25,000 per tonne levels till June end. The companies were free to review the market situation and determine prices in July.

However, senior industry sources said that the domestic market for HRC has not been very buoyant in the last couple of months and with the budget expected next week, steel companies have decided to maintain the current price levels in July.

A senior Jindal group executives said: "As of now, there is no intention to hike prices. We will be looking at maintaining the current price trend for some time."

Confirming the roll-over of prices, Tata Steel officials said, "We have only a small portion of our total sales through the spot market. We are not looking for a price increase for some time." Both Ispat and Essar officials have also said that they are not planning to announce any price hikes in July.