RINL TMT bars up Rs 5000/t

Long products public sector steel major, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), has hiked TMT bar prices by Rs 5,000 per tin this month.

Addressing an interactive session organized by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce, P K Bishnoi, chairman and managing director, RINL said, in the first week of March, RINL had received letters from customers saying that they were buying products through intermediaries at Rs 7,000-8,000 per ton higher.

"They also said that they were willing to pay up to Rs 5,000 per ton higher," said Bishnoi.

Industry sources said, there was a gap between market prices of TMT and RINL's prices and hence the steep increase.

The average increase in TMT bars, widely used long product, is around Rs 3,000 per ton. Post-increase, TMT prices, on an average, were around Rs 43,000 per ton, according to market sources.

Fielding questions on the steep hike in price, Bishnoi said, raw material prices were increasing.

Justifying the increase, he said, if prices were not increased then it would create a shortage of supply in the market.

He explained that if investible surplus was not generated then it would hamper capacity expansion plans.

RINL would have to generate around Rs 2,000 crore every year for capacity expansion.

The PSU is looking to expand its capacity to 16 million tons by 2020.