Steel firms hike prices

Steel majors - long and flat product manufacturers - today raised prices in the range of Rs 500-2,000 per tonne on the back of a firm-up of demand in the domestic and international markets.

While Jindal South West increased hot rolled coil (HRC) prices by Rs 2,000 per tonne, Tata Steel raised HRC prices by Rs 1,500-2,000 per tonne and galvanised steel prices by Rs 750-1,000 per tonne. Essar Steel has increased prices by close to Rs 2,000 per tonne.

Long products major Rashtraiya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has raised prices by Rs 500-700 per tonne.

Industry officials said the HRC price hike, which was the first since September last year, was not linked with the budget proposal of an import duty of 5% on steel scrap.

Tata Steel officials said the price hike was based on the prevailing market conditions.

Tata Steel has raised only spot prices of HRC. Non-contract products across all categories account for 20-25% of the company's output.

Seshagiri Rao, chief financial officer of Jindal South West, said the price increase was led by the upmove in the international market. He added that even after today's price hike, there was a gap of Rs 1,000 between international and domestic prices.

Y S Sagar Rao, chairman and managing director of RINL, said the price increase would be effective today. He said the company's team was still working out the exact price, but the increase would be in the range of Rs 500-700 per tonne.

Ispat Industries and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) officials were not available for comments.