Tata Steel will hike prices for all its long-term contracts from April 1. Although the company did not specify the exact quantum of increase, company executives told Business Standard that price negotiations with the company's long-term customers were on and that a final decision on the price increase would be taken soon.
"There has been a consistent rise in global steel prices. Taking into consideration the demand scenario, prices of long-term contracts will undergo an upward revision. The price increase will be for all products," a Tata Steel executive said.
Domestic spot prices of hot-rolled coils, the benchmark of steel prices, are currently hovering at Rs 29,200 per tonne, excluding freight, excise and other duties.
Tata Steel had announced a Rs 2,000 per tonne roll-back of its prices in August last year. The company had also committed itself to maintaining its prices till March 31, 2005.
Following Tata Steel's price rollback, other primary players like Steel Authority of India, Ispat Industries, Essar Steel and Jindal Iron & Steel Company also announced price cuts. Subsequently, these companies raised prices by around Rs 500 per tonne in January.
Senior executives of SAIL, Ispat Industries and Jisco did not wish to given any definite indication of a price hike. "We review prices on a monthly basis. At the moment we cannot say whether there will be any price changes in April. No decision has even been taken on prices in March."
A Essar Steel official said: "We fix prices on a quarterly basis and the current price will hold till March end. In the last week of March we will take a decision on April prices."