Indian steel producers divided on regulator

Indian steel producers divided on regulator

When it comes to talk of introducing a regulator to oversee steel prices, members of the Indian Steel Alliance (ISA) hold differing views. ISA includes the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Tata Iron and Steel Corp (TISCO), Essar Steel, Jindal Vijaynagar and Ispat Industries. SAIL officials maintain that they would welcome a price regulator if the prices become unreasonable. However, the officials stress that a regulator would only be effective if it covers the entire industry. On the other hand, private sector players remain largely opposed to the idea. Taking the current 5% duty applied to imported steel products into account, members of the private sector claim that there is not much difference between international prices and domestic market prices. Essar Steel officials agree with the view held by the private sector. Company officials point out that none of the other sectors in India are regulated and therefore steel should not be an exception. Another issue causing difficulty for steel producers is the Steel Ministry's proposal regarding the cheaper supply of iron ore to public-sector companies. Essar Steel and Ispat Industries oppose this proposal since they already pay international prices for iron ore. On the other hand, this proposal would not impact SAIL or TISCO since they operate their own iron ore mines.