The Hindu Business Line : Steel, aluminium cos cut prices as global rates drop

FOLLOWING international trends, domestic steel and aluminium manufacturers on Wednesday announced reduction in prices in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 per tonne.

Steel Authority of India Ltd was the first to announce the price cut effective Tuesdaymidnight. The company announced a reduction of Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per tonne for long products and around Rs 2,000 for hot-rolled flat steel, according to company officials.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd has also effected a price cut of around Rs 1,500, industry sources said.

The largest private sector steel manufacturer Tata Steel is also in the process of reducing prices. According to a company spokesman, "since all our buyers are under long term contracts, we will consider changes only when they come up for revision." Industry sources, however, said that Tata Steel has already sounded its customers that it would effect a price cut similar to SAIL.

The other three private sector manufacturers, namely Essar Steel, Ispat Industries and Jindal Vijayanagar, have also reduced prices of hot-rolled steel by around Rs 1,500-2,000 per tonne, industry officials said.

Global steel prices have started softening since the middle of March following poor Chinese demand. Spot prices in the domestic market started showing weak trends from the beginning of April when international prices fell further. Industry sources said that during the first half of April a number of Indian firms have booked large import consignments of hot-rolled coil.

These consignments would start arriving in the next few days, industry sources said and added that this has created pressure on the primary steel manufacturers who have responded by cutting down prices.

In the case of aluminium, National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has also announced a reduction of Rs 2,500 per tonne because of weakening of aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange over the past few months.

Following Nalco's announcement, private sector producer Hindustan Aluminium Company Ltd has also announced that it will cut prices.

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