Indian steel companies have raised prices across different grades of the alloy by Rs 1,500-3,500 a tonne from November 1.

Following the hike, which comes on the back of hardening raw material costs, especially coking coal which all domestic companies mostly import, hot rolled (HR) prices are in the range of Rs 70,000 a tonne.

The increase had a rub-off effect on steel stocks which outperformed the benchmark indices by a wide margin.

Sources confirmed that JSW Steel and Tata Steel, the country’s top two private steel makers, had raised prices for November both for the flat category, which goes into consumer durables and cars, and the long segment, which finds uses in the construction sector.

The latest round of hike comes after a brief period of lull during July-September.

Steelmakers had intermittently raised prices in October both in the long (rebar) and flat steel (hot rolled and cold rolled coils) categories.

In October, flat steel prices went up Rs 1,500-Rs 3,000 a tonne, while longs were increased Rs 3,000 a tonne, led by higher coal prices and healthy demand, Crisil Research said in a note on October 18, 2021.

The rising costs have come on account of a spike in coking coal prices, a key ingredient for blast furnace based integrated steel makers, which has tripled to $400 a tonne FOB (free-on-board) Australia.

Despite the spate of hikes, Indian prices remain at a discount vis-a-vis United States and Europe but on a par with Asia, indicating domestic manufacturers will still be competitive vis-a-vis imports.

The multiple rounds of price hikes will contribute to an inflationary trend with user industries passing on the impact to the end consumer.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and public sector Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) had a good day in the market, gaining as much as 2.9 per cent to 8.9 per cent, respectively, as price hikes add shine to the metal. In contrast, the benchmark Sensex went up 1.41 per cent.

Gas cylinder

Ahead of Diwali, state-owned oil firms have increased LPG prices by Rs 265 to over Rs 2,000 per gas cylinder used by commercial establishments. However, there was no change in domestic cooking gas prices In Calcutta, a 19-kg cylinder now costs Rs 2,073.50.

Petrol and diesel prices also went up for the sixth consecutive day on November 1.

The refiners have also raised jet fuel prices for the first half of November by 4.6 percent compared with the previous fortnight to Rs 79,020 per kl, marking the fourth consecutive fortnightly increase.

Coal output

State-owned Coal India Limited on Monday said production increased 6.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 49.8 million tonnes in October.

The development assumes significance in the wake of the country's power plants facing fuel shortages.