The chairman of Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has said that, if global suppliers increase their prices for raw materials, then steel prices will also be likely to rise in the coming months.
According to press sources, SAIL chairman S.K. Roongta said that prices of raw materials such as coking coal and iron ore are likely to rise under annual supply agreements. He said at a conference in India, "If the raw material prices increase, there will be a cost pressure (worldwide) on steel producers, which they will have to pass on to buyers."
SAIL, India's top maker of steel, is likely to produce 13 million mt of crude steel in the current fiscal year ending March 2010, Roongta added.