Ispat Iscor hikes prices again

Ispat Iscor hikes prices again

South African steel producer Ispat Iscor announced yesterday that it determined to increase prices of flat products due to the depreciation of Rand against US Dollar. The price increases effective as of November are as follows: 2% on galvanized steel, 6% on thin galvanized steel, 7% on cold rolled coil and 8% on hot rolled coil. The company officials stated that they determined to increase prices as Rand has weakened by 9% against US Dollar since the beginning of August 2004. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Ispat Iscor announced in August that it would increase prices of flat products effective as of October. However, since Iscor holds the monopoly in South African steel industry, the second increase in the prices will probably cause the industry difficulty. Moreover, the industry was expecting a decrease in prices in the fourth quarter. The fact that Ispat Iscor, despite its promise to the government regarding the implementation of new pricing policy, increased its prices for October created concern among steel users in the country. Therefore, the recent increase has certainly come as a blow to the industry. However, Iscor officials claim that the recent price increase is in line with international price movements.