Industry majors Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Limited as well as Jindal Steel and Power, have some protection against rising costs as they have their own iron ore mines, but most companies will be hurt.
The government could cut duties on raw materials such as coking coal, iron ore and scrap in Friday’s budget, and increase the export duty on iron ore to help contain prices, but some industry officials said that it was unlikely to help too much.
Unless there’s a heavy duty on exports of iron ore, prices may rise by another $50-$100 per tonne over the next six months.
The pressures come as prices are already underpinned by booming Indian demand, with analysts expecting consumption of finished steel to grow by 10-15 percent this year.
India, with iron ore reserves of 25 billion tonnes, expects to produce 100 million tonnes of steel by 2012, but for now it has to make up the shortfall from overseas.
Source www.reuters.com (Edited)
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