SAIL may increase prices after July
Mr S K Roongta chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited during an interview with BL said that a rise in steel prices would be inevitable after July 2008.
He said that "We have committed to the government to hold the prices until July 2008. To what extent and when exactly we will be raising the prices is difficult to say now."
Mr Roongta said that SAIL’s cost advantages did not mean that it should be penalized. He said that "If I am a high cost producer and the market prices are low, then nobody is going to take a look at my costs and pay me a higher price. If we have come to this stage, we have done so through various efforts. Last year, our capacity utilization was 118% and the benefits of our efficiency should accrue to us."
Mr Roongta also pointed out that for a good 32 years out of SAIL’s 50 years of existence, it was forced to sell products at administered prices which some times did not even cover costs.
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