Steel ingots' prices drop by Rs 2,000
After government intervention, prices of steel ingots have come down by around Rs 2,000 a tonne during the past one week from Rs 2,300 a tonne.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: After government intervention, prices of steel ingots have come down by around Rs 2,000 a tonne during the past one week from Rs 2,300 a tonne. This is after prices increased steadily in the last couple of months.
According to steel ministry sources, the major steel producers have been holding prices steady for now.
Though steel ingots are not sold by major producers , the prices are decided by benchmarking on the prices of blooms sold by large steel producers. Ingots are used for manufacturing construction steel such as bars and sarias.
According to a senior official in the steel ministry: ���The prices have continued their upward trend in the international market. But the proactive role of the government has ensured that the prices of steel in the country have actually come down in last one month.���
Last month, the government imposed a 15% export duty on semi-finished products and hot-rolled products , 10% on cold-rolled bars, tubes and 5% export duty on galvanised steel products in order to further curtail the rising prices and increase supply of steel in the domestic market.
To further augment the availability of steel products in the country, the import duty on steel has been reduced from 5% to 0%.
There is a substantial gap between the growth rates of India���s production and consumption, with the former registering 5.2% growth and the latter 11% during 2007-08 .
There has been a spurt in international price for iron ore and coking coal which are the basic raw materials for production of steel. The increase in coking coal price has been to the tune of over 200% and the country has to import substantial quantity of coking coal for steel production.
According to an official with a major TMT bar producer, though the prices at which the company purchased ingots and billets have come down during the last one week, they are getting only partially reflected in prices of bars and other downstream products because the market is highly fragmented.
There are several hundred producers offering prices with differences of up to Rs 4,000-6 ,000 a tonne, though quality also varies widely. So the actual reduction in prices of products made by using ingots as raw materials would not come down by the equivalent amount, he said.
According to steel ministry sources, the major steel producers have been holding prices steady for now.
Though steel ingots are not sold by major producers , the prices are decided by benchmarking on the prices of blooms sold by large steel producers. Ingots are used for manufacturing construction steel such as bars and sarias.
According to a senior official in the steel ministry: ���The prices have continued their upward trend in the international market. But the proactive role of the government has ensured that the prices of steel in the country have actually come down in last one month.���
Last month, the government imposed a 15% export duty on semi-finished products and hot-rolled products , 10% on cold-rolled bars, tubes and 5% export duty on galvanised steel products in order to further curtail the rising prices and increase supply of steel in the domestic market.
To further augment the availability of steel products in the country, the import duty on steel has been reduced from 5% to 0%.
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There is a substantial gap between the growth rates of India���s production and consumption, with the former registering 5.2% growth and the latter 11% during 2007-08 .
There has been a spurt in international price for iron ore and coking coal which are the basic raw materials for production of steel. The increase in coking coal price has been to the tune of over 200% and the country has to import substantial quantity of coking coal for steel production.
According to an official with a major TMT bar producer, though the prices at which the company purchased ingots and billets have come down during the last one week, they are getting only partially reflected in prices of bars and other downstream products because the market is highly fragmented.
There are several hundred producers offering prices with differences of up to Rs 4,000-6 ,000 a tonne, though quality also varies widely. So the actual reduction in prices of products made by using ingots as raw materials would not come down by the equivalent amount, he said.
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