Smaller steel producers trail top six players in scaling up production

Shortage of iron ore, spike in input costs are the major impediments

It’s not just elevated iron ore prices and uptick in demand that’s driving steel prices, there is a drop in availability led by challenges faced by smaller steel producers.

Even though demand has picked up and the market is buoyant, smaller steel producers – most of which are secondary – have not been able to scale up production. The factors are more than one: there is a shortage of iron ore and input costs have risen sharply over the past few months.

A secondary producer explained that there was a problem with availability of iron ore and prices. “Prices have