Steel stocks up on panel's nod for mining

The share prices of steel companies shot up sharply in response to an interim relief provided by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) which cleared 24 applications for re-commencing mining operations in Karnataka.

The stock price of smaller companies with interest in iron ore mining shot up sharply, with Jai Corporation gaining 14.2 per cent, followed by Gujarat Natural Resources up 9.74 per cent. Among those badly affected due to the Supreme Court ban on iron ore shipment from Karnataka JSW Steel posted 6.5 per cent increase in its stock price. While Bhuwalka Steel and Vaswani Industries shot up by 5.7 per cent and 5.4 per respectively on Friday.

A JSW Steel official who could not be named said they hoped the SC acted positively on the CEC recommendation and allowed these 24 companies to begin mining. He said, "We have secured a comfortable amount of iron ore in the recent auctions. If the SC allows these mines to operate, than the shortage of ore will be eased further and will definitely benefit the industry.”

Leading players like Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Tata Steel also remained positive but the quantum of share price rise was lower than smaller companies. While the share price of SAIL jumped 1.7 per cent, Tata Steel stock shot up by 1.3 per cent.

Mining companies’ stocks also turned positive, albeit marginally, with the share price of Anil Agarwal-controlled Sesa Goa up by 0.02 per cent to close on Friday at Rs 210. Public sector MMTC’s share price also jumped by a mere 0.3 per cent to Rs 656 on the weekend.