Steel prices on the boil again; another hike in April

Steel manufacturers, including state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd, as well as private players like JSW Steel and Essar Steel, have hiked product prices by Rs2,000-2,500 per tonne effective 1 April thanks mainly to rising input costs.

Tata Steel, however, said it has not yet taken a decision on raising prices.

"Domestic steel prices will follow the rising global trend, where the rates have gone up due to the higher iron ore and coking coal supply contracts between steel makers and international mining firms for the current quarter," SAIL chairman S K Roongta said on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.

Confirming the hike in steel prices, Jayant Acharya, sales and marketing director of JSW Steel Ltd, said: "We have raised both flat and long product prices by 5-7 per cent due to cost push on account of rising iron ore and coal prices."

Similarly, Essar Steel and Ispat Industries Ltd have confirmed the price hike.

The new pricing policies of Vale of Brazil and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton with Japanese and Chinese mills have ended the 40-year-old benchmark system of annual contracts and lengthy price negotiations. The vastly different new pricing policy has worried steel producers globally, as it will permit iron ore makers to revisit their pricing every quarter and make upward revisions to their contract prices, in line with the spot market trends.