JANUARY saw marginal fluctuations in the prices of iron & steel items in different regions of the country, according to RK Prasannan, development commissioner for iron & steel. Although, the prices of hot-rolled (HR) coils in the Calcutta region went up sharply, they remained almost static in the Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai regions, he told The Financial Express.According to data furnished in the `Monthly bulletin on iron & steel' published by the management information service section of the office of the DCI&S, the prices of 2-mm HR coils in Calcutta showed a steady upward trend in January. Its price went up from Rs 16,500 per tonne on January 5 to Rs 17,400 on January 12 to Rs 17,600 on January 19 and finally to Rs 17,750 on January 27.
Its price in the Delhi region was the same at Rs 17,100 in the first and the last weeks of the month, although it fell slightly during the second and third weeks to Rs 17,000. In the Madras region, the price started with Rs 18,200 but fell to Rs 18,000 in thesecond week and then went up to the initial price in the third week. In Mumbai, however, it stagnated at Rs 18,600 per tonne throughout the month.
The prices of 3.15-mm HR coil went up gradually from Rs 15,200 per tonne in the first week to Rs 15,400 to Rs 15,700 in the second and third weeks respectively and then fell to Rs 15,450 on January 27. In Delhi, the price declined by Rs 100 per tonne in the last two weeks, while it was steady at Rs 16,600 in the first two weeks. In Chennai, the price showed a marginal increase by Rs 100 in the second week and again came down in the third week to its first week's price of Rs 17,500. The prices in Mumbai, however remained, static at Rs 18,100.
The prices of 0.63-mm cold rolled (CR) coil in Calcutta shot up to Rs 20,350 on January 27 after showing a downward trend for three consecutive weeks. In went down from Rs 20,100 in first week to Rs 20,000 and to Rs 19,800 in the second and third weeks respectively. In Delhi, after remaining static at Rs 21,900 in the firsttwo weeks, it declined to Rs 21,700 and to Rs 21,600 in the third and fourth weeks respectively. Whereas in Chennai and Mumbai it remained static at Rs 22,000 and Rs 23,000 respectively.
After remaining static for the first two weeks at Rs 24,500, the prices of 0.63-mm galvanised plane sheets in Calcutta went up to Rs 25,400 in the third week and again declined to Rs 25,300 by the end of the month. Its price in Delhi went up from Rs 24,000 to Rs 24,500 in second week and remained static in three consecutive weeks. In Chennai, the price went up by Rs 600 in the second week and again declined to the initial week's price of Rs 26,000. Its price in Mumbai, however, declined from Rs 27,200 to Rs 26,700 during the third and fourth weeks.
In Calcutta, prices of GP sheets declined from Rs 24,000 to Rs 23,700 in the second week and then again started going up and ended the month with a price of Rs 23,900. In Delhi, it showed a gradual decline from Rs 24,600 to Rs 24,400 by the end of the month, while in Chennaiand Mumbai it remained static at Rs 26,700 and Rs 27,700 respectively.
As for 6-mm wire rods, its price went up from Rs 14,100 in the first week to Rs 14,250 by the end of the month in Calcutta. The prices in Delhi declined sharply from Rs 16,700 to Rs 15,600 in the second week and remained static for three consecutive weeks, while in Chennai and Mumbai it remained static at Rs 15,800 and Rs 15,000 respectively throughout the month.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
