The Hindu Business Line : SAIL to hike HR prices from today

STEEL Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the largest domestic steel maker, has decided to increase the prices of various hot-rolled steel products with effect from Wednesday. The net hike in prices of various HR categories of steel would be about Rs 500 to Rs 800 per tonne, sources said.

The other private sector producers, however, will await the outcome of the Steel Consumers' Council meeting scheduled for Thursday. The Minister for Steel, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, is to chair the meeting to be held in Mumbai.

Mr Paswan is also expected to place before the Council the proposal for a regulator for the steel industry for deliberations on the entire issue. Sources said that the Ministry is ready with its proposal regarding appointment of a regulator for the industry. The issue had come up at the last meeting of the Council.

Though none of the private producers, when contacted, revealed the quantum of price increase they are planning, industry sources said that Tata Steel and Jindal Vijaynagar are contemplating a Rs 1,000-per-tonne hike while Essar and Ispat Industries may increase prices by around Rs 500.

The main reasons for this round of price hikes, steel industry sources said, is the sudden increase in rail freight coupled with the higher price of gas, which is impacting on the production cost of sponge iron.

Steel manufacturers are increasingly getting dependent on sponge iron following problems in steel scrap imports, industry sources said.

The other reasons cited by the companies for increasing prices are poor availability of good quality iron ore and the high prices ruling in the international market.