Steel producers have decided to ring in the new year by announcing a price hike. State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and private players — JSW Steel and Essar Steel — have raised prices by as much as 5 per cent.

SAIL has raised prices across all categories by 3 per cent which is around Rs 1,000 a tonne.

The price hike is on account of an increase in input costs and revised prices are effective from January 1, said a SAIL official.

JSW Steel, one of the largest private sector steelmakers, also announced a hike of 4-5 per cent on its flat products.

According to a Delhi-based steel trader, the company has also increased prices of its long products by a similar range but JSW could not confirm this.

The prices for JSW Steel products have risen by as much as Rs 1,700 a tonne. The price hike is effective immediately, said a JSW official.

Essar Steel too has decided to hike prices by 5 per cent. “We will increase product prices by about 5 per cent on account of higher raw material prices,” said Mr B. Ganesh Pai, Vice-President, Corporate Communications.

The latest round of price hikes are driven by increasing iron ore and coking coal prices, both of which are key inputs for steel-making. State-run NMDC recently raised iron ore prices by 5.22 per cent for the January-March quarter. Coking coal prices for the January-March quarter have also gone up by about 8-10 per cent over the previous quarter. JSW also raised prices for its products by about Rs 500 a tonne last month.

Tata Steel, though, is yet to increase prices. However, according to steel traders, an announcement of a price increase from Tata Steel is on the cards.

Both private and public sector steel companies were gearing up for a price hike from December last year, with most of them predicting a hike of up to 5 per cent in January. The hike comes after prices fell by about Rs 700-1,000 a tonne in November last year amid softening global prices and appreciation of the rupee against the dollar.

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