With demand likely to pick up in the automobile and infrastructure sector, steel prices may increase marginally.
Mr B Muthuraman MD of TATA Steel said that “If the demand is good, if the economy improves...then there is a chance of prices marginally going up.”

He added that “Demand is picking up. I believe that as far as India is concerned it is in good shape. The sectors which are witnessing increase in demand are auto and infrastructure. The large infrastructure projects including the government projects are in full swing.”
He said the government’s infrastructure development projects have pushed up demand for steel particularly in semi-urban areas in the past few months.

Asked if the company is looking to increase prices of both flat and long steel products Mr Muthuraman said “It could be both depending on the demand.”
The company had increased prices of its flat products in select spot markets by INR 500 to INR 1,000 a tonne in the first week of August. The company had also increased rates of its long products in April to May by INR 1,000 a tonne and had also hiked prices o f some of its products in June by INR 500 to INR 750 a tonne.