The Hindu Business Line : Steel price increase unreasonable, says Paswan

SAIL is 50: The Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, and the SAIL Chairman, Mr S.K. Roongta, at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of SAIL in the Capital on Monday. The Government has termed the recent price hike by steel companies as unreasonable and said that it would review the situation.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Feb. 4 The Government has termed the recent price hike by steel companies as unreasonable and said that it would review the move by February 15.

“The price monitoring committee in the Steel Ministry has already been instructed to look into the recent hike by the domestic steel manufacturers and the report is likely to be ready in the next five days,” the Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

He added that once the report was finalised, the Ministry would hold a meeting with all the major steel producers, both the public and private sectors, before February 15 to see if the price hike was justified.

“The Ministry does not want the industries to run losses but at the same time we do not want them to hike prices just by saying that the input prices have gone up. So I would like to meet the company representatives and then see if the quantum of the recent price hike is justifiable or not,” Mr Paswan said.

The Minister, however, did not comment on the possibility of a roll back.

Recently steel companies announced a hike of up to Rs 2,500 per tonne across various products, citing higher input costs. Besides high input costs, strong demand in other markets like China, Brazil, Russia and West Asia and also an increase in the international price of the commodity has also held the steel prices firm.

‘Hike justified’

Justifying the increase in prices, Mr S.K. Roongta, Chairman SAIL, said that the company was facing cost pressure.

“Cost of several inputs has gone up in the past and even the employee cost is rising. We would explain our stance on the price rise when the Government calls for the review meeting,” he added.

SAIL also announced the commencement of a year-long celebrations titled ‘Antaragni’ to commemorate the 50th year of production by its first plants.

Speaking on the occasion, the Mr Paswan commended the resilient spirit of the company’s workforce that had withstood the various changes of the past five decades. Noting that the quality of steel produced by the company was at par with the best in the world, he said that it was a myth that efficiency and competitiveness were attributes meant for the private sector alone.

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