Mukand plans price hike by up to Rs 3,000/ tonne in July

Specialty steel major Mukand plans to raise the prices of its products by Rs 2,000-3,000 per tonne in July, a top company official said today.

"We plan to raise our prices in July by Rs 2,000-3,000 per tonne," Mukand's Co-Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Shah told PTI here.

The company had earlier hiked the prices of its products by around Rs 4,000 per tonne in April-May.

"Iron ore prices are up sharply...It is a matter of concern--in fact, the industry is seeking a stoppage of iron ore exports (to bring down prices in the domestic market)," Shah said.

On the outlook for this fiscal (FY11), Shah said that things were looking good for the company and it expects to clock sales of Rs 2,500 crore.

"The outlook for this year is good and the demand for alloy steels, in which we are a major player, is high. We expect a sale of Rs 2,500 crore this fiscal," Shah said.

Mukand had clocked sales of Rs 1,962 crore in FY10 as against Rs 1,918 crore in the year-ago period, while its net profit stood at Rs 62 crore as against a loss of Rs 187 crore in the year-ago period.

The company would be upping its output of specialty alloys and stainless steel to 3,75,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) this year, 4,50,000 tpa in 2011 and to 5 lakh tpa in 2012, he said.

The firm would also soon commission its 15 MW power plant in Karnataka in its steel division, which will help in reducing its cost of operations, he said.