Indian steelmakers have raised January mill prices by Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 ($14- $21) per tonne due to higher raw material costs and stronger domestic steel demand.
“The cost of steel production has increased by around rs 1,000 per tonne ($14 per tonne) at the moment,” said VRSharma, managing director of jindal steel & power (JSPL). We plan to raise the ex-factory price of steel products from January 2.” Indian steel mills have raised prices for the fourth month in a row as demand for steel is expected to improve after the government announced a big push for infrastructure projects.
“There was very little replenishment of steel before and this, coupled with the recovery in demand, led to higher product prices,” said JayantAcharya, head of commercial and marketing at JSWSteel.
JSPL sold 1.66 million tons of steel in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 30% year on year. “In fy20 (2019.04-2020.03) the company is expected to target steel production of 7 million tonnes, higher than the previous forecast of 6.5 million tonnes,” VRSharma said.
