Tata Steel may up prices on input cost pressure

Tata Steel may increase prices of its products in the coming months on account of rising raw material cost, which is expected to rise by about $150 per tonne in the next fiscal, a top company official said.

"Raw material prices are likely to go up by somewhere around $140-150 per tonne in 2010-11. Unfortunately, how much is to be passed on to consumers is yet to be seen. But there is imminent rise in input cost pressure," Tata Steel Managing Director H M Nerurkar told reporters here.

Tata Steel along with other steel makers had hiked prices of its products by up to $2,000 a tonne in the beginning of this month, partially offsetting the impact of the rise in excise duty by 2 per cent across the board to 10 per cent.

Tata Steel Chief of Procurement Amitabh Panda had last week said that the cost of raw material is expected to rise by 25-30 per cent in the next financial year from the current level putting pressure on steel firms to hike rates.

The steel maker's India operations are self dependent in terms of availability of iron ore. It, however, procures coking coal from overseas, prices of which may go up to $200 a tonne in 2010-11 from the current level of about $105 a tonne.