JSW Steel rules out price increase this month

JSW Steel today ruled out any increase in product prices for August, stating that the demand scenario does not warrant change.

"Steel prices have bottomed out. There is some improvement in demand. But in August, we are not increasing our prices," JSW Steel Director (Commercial & Marketing) Jayant Acharya told PTI.

The company, which is the largest private steel producer by domestic capacity, sees a "positive bias" on the demand scenario and may consider raising steel prices in the next few months.

"Of course, there is a positive bias on the demand front. However, it will be too early to decide whether we will increase prices in September or not. But, going forward, prices are likely to improve," he added.

The country's largest steel-maker, SAIL, had last week said that it sees steel prices firming up on the back of demand from construction and automobile firms.

SAIL Chairman C S Verma had said that there is an upward pressure on prices.

The price of key steel products like hot-rolled coils (HR-C), which had touched a peak of $615 a tonne in international markets this January, had fallen to about $550 a tonne in July due to a slump in demand amid economic instability in Europe and a slowdown in manufacturing activity in China.

Now, HR coil prices have seen some improvement, and are hovering around the $555/tonne level, Verma had said.

Last month, Sajjan Jindal, the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel, had said that prices of the commodity have stabilised and are expected to show some signs of improvement.