Mumbai: Domestic steel industry, which has been holding the priceline for over two months, may be compelled to raise rates in August owing to increasing raw material costs.

"There is a good possibility of prices to increase in August, but I cannot confirm that right now because there is still 12-15 days before August comes," JSW Steel's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal told reporters on the sidelines of a function last evening where he was felicited by the Haryanvi Mumbaikars on being the President of industry body Assocham.

Steel producers had rolled back prices of flat products by Rs 4,000 a tonne and Rs 2,000 per tonne for structural steel last May and promised to hold prices for three months, ending in the first week of August, to help government rein in runaway inflation.

However, far from cooling off, inflation galloped to 11.91 per cent as per the latest available data mainly because of the sky rocketing crude oil prices. At the same time price of raw materials, mainly coal and iron ore, have shot up by around 10 per cent in the last three to four months. Domestic steel prices are 15,000 to Rs 20,000 lower than international prices now, according to steel makers.
Source : PTI