The Hindu Business Line : ‘Iron ore, coking coal will dictate steel prices’

At the AGM: Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Steel, and Mr James Leng, Deputy Chairman, at the company’s AGM in Mumbai on Thursday. In the immediate future, steel pries will be dictated by the level of iron ore and coking coal prices, which have risen 85 per cent and 200 per cent in the last one year, Mr Tata said.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 28 In the immediate future, steel pries will be dictated by the level of iron ore and coking coal prices, which have risen 85 per cent and 200 per cent (respectively) in the last year, Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Steel, said at the 101st annual general body meeting here on Thursday.

Mining leases

While Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, was self-sufficient in iron ore, it has sought mining leases to support its greenfield projects in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkand.

The company would also have to invest in or enter into contracts with mining companies to source iron ore and coking coal for Corus operations in the UK and the Netherlands, he said.

Net profit up

Tata Steel has posted a 60 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,900.90 crore for the quarter-ended June 30, compared with Rs 2,431.50 crore logged for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income rose from Rs 31,296.35 crore to Rs 43,560.96 crore.

The consolidated results include those of Tata Steel (UK) and its subsidiaries, whose income constitute 74 per cent of the total income.

To a shareholder query on manpower retention, Mr Tata said the attrition rate was around 4 per cent.

On employee strength, he said over the years the number was down from 78,000 to 46,000 through voluntary retirement schemes and it had now risen to 80,000 with the acquisition of Corus.