Tata Steel has increased price of ‘some' long products by at least Rs 1,000 a tonne in March. This is on the back of a similar price hike in February and riding on strong demand outlook and similar increases by competitors.
Confirming the development, Mr H.M. Nerurkar, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said: “We have hiked price of some long products. The market costs are higher. Our competitors have also hiked prices. Moreover, there has been a good demand so far this year.”
The country's largest steel maker, SAIL, has hiked prices of both long and flat products in March. Prices of long products such as TMT bars have been hiked by Rs 500-1,000 a tonne.
Both SAIL and Tata Steel had announced a hike of Rs 1,000/tonne in February for certain long products such as TMT Bars and angles.
According to Mr Nerurkar, price of flat products are reviewed on a quarterly basis. He, however, did not mention whether flat product prices should also be enhanced.
Products from Europe
Mr Nerurkar said that the company was likely to bring in finished products from Europe for sale in India. Typically, this would be products those were not available in India.
Tata Steel had earlier planned have its semi-finished steel products exported to Europe where they would be rolled into finished ones and sold there.
However, the plan, according to Mr Nerurkar, did not work out, primarily because of logistic and pricing problems and “better profitability” in India's growing market conditions.
“We are working out as to how to bring finished products to India (from Europe) if that makes more sense to our customers. These are quality products; required from quality manufacturing,” he said.
Mining needs relook
Asked about his Budget expectations, Mr Nerurkar said that infrastructure projects that have been announced should be on stream.
According to him, there is also needs to be a re-look at the mining sector which has seen a 3.1 per cent negative growth (October to December quarter).
Calling the contraction a “retrograde step” especially when there's growth on other fronts, Mr Nerurkar said: “There are lots of job which can be stimulated (through mining).”