SAIL may not hike steel prices next month

State-run steel maker SAIL may not hike steel prices next month as it sees a downward trend in the international market, especially China.     

"There is no upsurge in prices. The international prices are cooling off especially in the Chinese market. So there is not much uptrend expected in India in October," SAIL Chairman S K Roongta has said here.

The steel maker hiked the prices of its products twice in as many months. It hiked rates by Rs 1,000 per tonne of its flat steel products, which are used mainly by the auto and consumer durables sector in August and later revised the rates upwards earlier this month by Rs 1,500 a tonne on the back of improved demand and positive global trend.     

The prices of flat steel products vary in the range of about Rs 29,000-40,000 per tonne in the domestic market.     

Analysts say the prices fixed by SAIL act as a benchmark for other domestic steel producers.     

In August only, domestic producers like JSW Steel, Ispat, and Essar Steel hiked prices of their products by up to Rs 1,000 per tonne following SAIL's and Tata Steel's decision to increase prices.