Major Indian steel producers hike prices
According to recent news in the market, major Indian steel producers Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Tata Iron and Steel Corp (TISCO) and Rastriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) announced that they will increase prices by 10% to be in effect as of March 1, 2004. The new increase corresponds to an increase of Rupees 2500-3000 ($55-66) per ton. On the other hand, the other major steel producers in the country Essar Steel, Ispat Industries and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited (JVSL) effected price increase of 15% in the middle of February. SAIL, TISCO and RINL stressed that price increase is necessary to cover rising costs of raw materials, such as coking coal, metallurgical coke, scrap, sponge iron and iron ore. Another reason for the price increase is stated to be related with the imbalance in steel prices in regional markets.