SAIL rules out price hike in Nov

The country's largest steel maker, SAIL, today ruled out any increase in the prices of its products for November citing stable market scenario.

"There is no possibility of price rise in November. Prices are determined by the market and (not by immediate input cost pressure)," SAIL Chairman S K Roongta said here today, when asked if the PSU would pass on the increase in input cost on account of coal price hike.

SAIL had hiked steel prices in August and September by up to Rs 1,500 per tonne. On account of the downward trend in the international market SAIL decided against increasing steel prices in October.

Industry experts had anticipated the company to increase steel prices on the back of 11 per cent average hike in coal rates by the country's largest coal producer Coal India.

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

However, Roongta maintained that the consumption trend in the steel sector is encouraging and is pegged to touch the 9 per cent level next year.

India's steel consumption rose by 5.7 per cent to 26.49 million tonnes in the first six months of the current fiscal over the same period a year ago on account of improved demand from sectors like automobile and consumer durables.