Steel prices may come down
Financial Express

Domestic steel prices may come down in the next couple of weeks. The government is likely to direct steel producers to bring down the prices, if it finds that the hike is not in proportion to the increase in raw material prices.

Steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan will hold a meeting next week with steel producers to discuss the issue.

Paswan also said stringent action would be taken against those who refuse to adhere to the government directive, if any.

Steel producers, including Steel Authority of India Ltd, Tata Steel and Essar Steel, hiked the prices of hot rolled coil by Rs 2,000-2,500 per tonne on February 1. A price monitoring committee headed by Arvind Kumar, joint secretary, ministry of steel, will look into the matter now.

“At the first glance, the hike in steel prices by the producers is not justified. I would hold a meeting with steel producers and based on the report of the committee, would urge for further action,” Paswan, told reporters on the sidelines of a function to commemorate the 50th year of production of SAIL.

The report by the committee would be submitted by the end of the week.

This is the second round of price hike by steel producers in the current year. Earlier, in January, the steel majors had increased prices by Rs 500-1,000 per tonne.

The Companies claim that the cost of raw material such as coking coal and iron ore have gone up significantly in the last few months and they are left with no choice but to increase prices.

After intervention from the price monitoring committee last year, steel majors had to roll back prices after going in for a hike. At present, the prices of HR coils are at Rs 28,000-30,000 per tonne.