A hike in iron ore prices by state-run NMDC has left steel companies with no choice but to pass on the increased production cost to customers, JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal has said.
"Recent increase in iron-ore price by state owned NMDC & Orissa pvt. miners is forcing steel companies to pass on increased cost of production," Jindal said in a tweet.
On January 2, 2017, the country's largest iron ore miner NMDC increased prices of higher grade iron (lumps) by Rs 500 to Rs 3,100 per tonne for the current month.
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The increased cost of other raw materials like coal, refractory, electrodes is further fueling this and leaving no other option, Jindal said.
The price hike in January is the third-straight rise since November 2017 when NMDC had fixed the rates of lump ore at Rs 2,300 a tonne and that of fines at Rs 2,060 a tonne.
In December, 2017, it rose the price of lump ore by Rs 300 a tonne to Rs 2,600 and fines by 200 to Rs 2,260 a tonne.