Steel demand to go up by at least 5% this fiscal: secy
Steel demand to go up by at least 5% this fiscal: secy
Mumbai: India’s steel demand is likely to go up by at least 5% in the current fiscal, but the price of the alloy would remain more or less same at the current level, a top government official said.
“Five per cent is what we are seeing definitely, it can be even more, perhaps 10%," Steel secretary P K Rastogi said here when asked to comment on the expected demand growth of the alloy during the current fiscal.
The demand for steel during the quarter ending 31 March, 2009 had increased by 3.8% as compared to the same period last fiscal.
On price, Rastogi said the government could not have any control over it, but there was no reason why it should go up as raw material prices had come down.
“We don’t expect prices to go up in the near term as input costs have come down," he said.
Industry majors also did not see the price of the alloy escalating as it remained week internationally as well.
“My perception is that the demand would go up by 5-6% in the current fiscal. I expect prices to remain at the same level for the entire fiscal," JSW Steel’s joint managing director and Group CFO M V S Seshagiri Rao said.
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