Increasing steel prices a headache for industry

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 18

High prices of steel is giving a tough time to the local industry.

Steel plants which were shut by the Chinese government, in the wake of increasing air pollution, is one of the reasons behind the rising steel prices in the country. Steel import from China has decreased, so the local manufacturers are charging at their own will.

The second reason behind the increasing prices is that the steel manufacturers have started importing steel to China, creating scarcity in the local market and thus leading to high prices.

Levy of the Goods and Services Tax is yet another reason behind the increase in the prices from Rs 1,000 to 1,500 per metric tonne.

Industries which use steel as raw material — cycle and cycle parts, auto parts, machine tool, hand tools — are worst affected. Fixing prices of the finished products has become a tough task for the industries. Frequently changing the price of end products is difficult and the change in price of raw material is giving a tough time to the industry.

Gurmeet Singh Kular, president, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation, said: “The industry has been demanding from the government to set up a committee to regulate the prices of steel for a long time now. Prices need to be regulated, otherwise frequent rise in the prices will create havoc for industry,” he said.

Another city-based small businessman, Vinay Kansal, said the export of steel from India had picked up due to which the prices were increasing for the local industry. “The ever-changing and increasing prices need to be curbed with the government’s intervention,” he said. “Industry cannot change the price of the finished good every week. If the prices are increased, the customer drifts away,” he added.