The Hindu Business Line : Steel, cement companies announce hike in prices

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New Delhi March 1 On a day when the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, asked industry to hold the price line, domestic steel and cement manufacturers went the other way and announced price hikes in the two products.

On Thursday, primary steel manufacturers raised hot-rolled steel prices across the board, the increase ranging from Rs 700 to Rs 1,200 per tonne. Cement manufacturers have increased prices by Rs 12 per 50 kg a bag.

These developments took place less than 24 hours after the Government announced a series of duty concessions on steel-making inputs, hoping that prices would remain stable. A few days ago , the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, had announced freight cuts for inputs that go into steel and cement making.

The average price of hot-rolled coils, which has been Rs 27,500 per tonne till Wednesday, has gone up to Rs 28,500 per tonne from Thursday. Adding a 16 per cent excise duty and four per cent sales tax, the price that the consumer will have to pay has gone up from Rs 33,176 per tonne to Rs 34,382 per tonne (assuming an average increase of Rs 1,000 per tonne).

Among the major primary steel manufacturers, public sector SAIL has increased prices of hot-rolled steel in the range of Rs 700-800 per tonne, while Tata Steel has increased prices by Rs 1,000. The largest producer of flat steel, Essar Steel, has increased prices by Rs 1,000-1,200 per tonne. Ispat Industries and JSW Steel have increased prices by Rs 1,000-1,200 a tonne, industry sources said.

While the companies termed the price hikes as routine, both steel and cement would impact all the downstream industries such as construction, automotive, road and rail infrastructure and water supply projects.

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