Steel majors Tata Steel, Essar Steel, Jindal Iron & Steel (Jisco), Jindal Vijayanagar Steel and Ispat Industries said they expected domestic steel prices to soar in the coming months as global prices were likely to firm up through the next quarter. 

The government, however, said there would be no tinkering with the import duty on steel products before the next budget. 

“At present, there is no speculation on an import duty cut on steel,” steel secretary VK Duggal told Business Standard. 

Northward bound

• Prices of hot-rolled coils and galvanised products are expected to rise by 10-15 per cent to $350 per tonne by January 2004

• Cold-rolled steel prices are expected to rise by $20-25 per tonne 
• The government said there will be no tinkering with the import duty on steel products before the next budget 

Prices of hot-rolled coils and galvanised products are expected to rise by 10-15 per cent to $350 per tonne by January 2004, while cold-rolled steel prices are expected to rise by $20-25 per tonne. 

Sajjan Jindal, chairman and managing director, Jisco, said, “At the moment, world metal prices are rising. Therefore, I feel that prices of hot-rolled coils will climb by $20-30 per tonne to around $350 during the last quarter of 2003-04.” 

“Prices of hot-rolled coils may rise by $20-30 per tonne in the next quarter,” said RC Nandrajog, vice-president (finance), Tata Steel. 

Any rise in international prices would be reflected in domestic prices in one or two months, industry sources said. 

“If the present trend is any indication, prices are expected to remain firm,” added Prashant Ruia, director, Essar Steel. Domestic steel prices have been raised six times since April 2002. 

Prices of galvanised products are also set to go up by $25-30 per tonne by the year-end. “With prices of metal and hot-rolled coils rising, the prices of value-added galvanised steel and other cold-rolled products will firm up as well,” said Raman Madhok, joint managing director, Jisco. 

A sharp rise in input costs due to an impending shortage of key inputs would fuel the surge in prices, World Steel Dynamics said in a recent report. The report predicted that hot-rolled coil prices would jump from $315 per tonne to around $450 by January 2004. 

Domestic steel companies, however, said a price target of $350-370 per tonne was more realistic. 

While scrap prices have risen to $185 per tonne from $148 in May 2003, the price of coke is expected to climb by $25 per tonne from $120 per tonne to $145 per tonne by January according to industry sources.