The Hindu Business Line : Steel cos to roll back prices

Cutting edge: The Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, with steel producers at a meeting in the Capital on Thursday. —

New Delhi, Feb. 14 After raising prices in the first week of February, major domestic steel producers have agreed to a partial roll-back in the prices of thermo mechanically treated (TMT) bars and rounds by Rs 1,000 per tonne and hot-rolled (HR) coils by Rs 500 per tonne with immediate effect.

The roll-back decision came after a meeting between the major producers and the Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, on Thursday. Steel producers had a meeting with Ministry officials on Tuesday, but that meeting remained inconclusive.

Earlier this month, the manufacturers had raised steel prices by Rs 1,500-2,500 per tonne, citing rising input costs, which had attracted a lot of attention from consumers. According to Mr Paswan, the industry had voluntarily agreed to decrease prices of these varieties for the benefit of the common man.

“The recent price hike, apart from hitting the common man due to its cascading effect on inflation, was also affecting many of the downstream consumer industries and the construction sectors and that is why the Ministry was concerned,” Mr Paswan said after the meeting.

He also pointed out that since TMT bars were an item of mass consumption, rolling back its price was considered necessary.

The Steel Authority of India Ltd’s Chairman, Mr S.K. Roongta, said the steel producers were constrained to increase the prices due to a hike in input costs but have agreed to roll back the prices in the interest of the common man.

“The steel producers have voluntarily agreed to roll back prices to neutralise the impression that they were arbitrarily raising prices,” the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Mr Naveen Jindal, said.

He also said the producers had urged the Ministry to take up the excise duty issue with the Finance Ministry.

“Even when the prices were around Rs 25,000 per tonne the excise duty was 16 per cent and even now it is at the same level. So that is why we have requested that it be reduced to eight per cent,” Mr Jindal said.

The producers have also urged abolishing the duty on scrap, iron ore and coke. Currently, the duty on scrap is five per cent, while on iron ore it is 2 per cent.

Mr Paswan, while agreeing to write to the Finance Ministry on the demands, said that he would be calling a meeting with the iron ore producers to address the issue of rising ore prices.