Soaring sales cheer steel makers

Inventories started piling up to an uncomfortable level for many firms also as a result of lower demand from consumer goods, additional capacity build up and increased imports during the monsoon and the ongoing festive season.

However, the trends in both demand and price front have reversed from the beginning of this month.

"There has been a brisk demand for the last few days – from the beginning of the current month. Inventory has come down. Sales have picked up -- both for HR and long products," country's largest steel maker Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Chairman C S Verma said.

According to a report by Joint Plant Committee, a Steel Ministry body, inventory with steel manufacturers, at the end of September, was 2-3 times of the stock that they were carrying at the end of March this year.

SAIL was carrying an inventory of four lakh tonnes at the end of March, 2012.

However, SAIL Chairman denied holding an inventry beyond the level of 10 lakh tonnes, at any point of time, saying, "We never had one million tonne inventory. That's a misnomer. You can't sale semis in the market."

Verma also said domestic steel prices have started increasing by USD 10 a tonne in the last few days in sync with international price.

Private sector steel makers also echoed Verma's view on price rise.

"Steel prices likely to

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