Steel prices will continue to increase, says Tata Steel

MUMBAI: Tata Steel on Thursday said prices of steel will continue to show an upward trend in near future due to rise in cost of raw materials.

"Steel prices will continue to increase in the line of raw material cost," Tata Steel Vice-Chairman B Muthuraman told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by industry body CII here.

He, however, did not specify the amount or percentage of price rise.

Last month, the company's Managing Director, H M Nerurkar, had said high input costs could continue to put pressure on steel prices in the domestic market even as demand is expected to remain high.

"Steel prices will continue to increase in the near future due to a rise in the cost of raw materials. But the demand for steel will go up," Nerurkar had said, adding prices of raw materials such as coking coal were showing upward trend.

The price of spot coking coal is increasing in Queensland, the largest coal producing province in Australia.

The country has been battered by its worst floods for the past few decades.