Vizag Steel to hike prices by Rs 400-700 per tonne

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) would raise the prices of all its products by Rs 400-700 per tonne from January 1.

"Currently, there is a lot of demand for our products in the domestic as well as foreign markets. To cash in on rising demand, we have decided to increase the prices," VSP sources said.

According to an information given to steel traders, VSP would increase prices by as much as Rs 400 on pig iron and by Rs 700 on billets and Rs 500 on all other steel products including wire rods, re-bars, rounds and structurals per tonne.

In September, VSP had hiked pig iron prices by Rs 800 per tonne and all other products by Rs 200.

The price of 16 mm rods has skyrocketed recently following a decline in their production. Because of trimming the production of 16 mm rods in LMMM (Light Medium Merchant Mill), the plant has not been able to meet the market demand for 16 mm products.

As a result, their prices have increased by Rs 1,500-2,000 per tonne, Krishna Rao, director, Vizag Profiles Limited, a leading steel trading company in the region, said.

If the plant produces 16 mm rods, the productivity in LMMM will come down.

This will affect the production-linked incentives of staff. So, keeping this in mind the management is not giving priority to roll out of 16 mm products, Krishna Rao said.

Consequently, 16 mm products' prices have been hovering at Rs 30,000-30,500 per tonne for the last one year in local market, he added.