Steel makers may raise prices by Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 a tonne after August 7, when the voluntary, three-month moratorium on prices ends. But the price increase may not be made in one go, say experts. ?Steel players may not increase prices in one go as they will not go against the government,? said a Mumbai analyst. Steel manufacturers FE contacted declined to reveal their mind, but it seems they are waiting to see who will bell the cat first. JSW Steel had said on Thursday that the company?s margins were hit by high raw material costs.
?We are looking at a reasonable price increase,? Sajjan Jindal, MD, had said.
When asked about a possible price hike, Tata Steel CFO Kaushik Chatterjee said, ?The company will take a view on what needs to be done after taking all aspects, including inflation, into consideration. International prices are higher by $350 per tonne.?
Contract coking coal price is now at $300 a tonne, up 200% from $98 in March, and spot prices hover around $350 a tonne. Going forward, government-owned NMDC, the country?s single largest iron ore producer and exporter, could increase iron ore prices again. NMDC had raised iron ore prices by 47.5 % with retrospective effect from October 1, 2007. The current spot market price of iron ore is $110 a tonne FOB India. With inflation rising, the steel ministry is keeping all options open to ensure that steel prices are kept under check. The ministry of steel has asked the Steel Authority of India Ltd not to hike steel prices in national interest after the voluntary industry price cap ends.