ET reported that iron ore mine owners reeling under a ban on mining in Karnataka, while keeping their fingers crossed about the Supreme Court hearing scheduled on Friday have cautioned about hike in steel prices.

The report quoted Mr H Noor Ahmed VP of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries and partner of Bellary based Trident Minerals as saying that “Iron ore spot prices have been rising by USD 1 per tonne to USD 2 per tonne daily since the ban came into effect last week. Prices have already crossed USD 150 per tonne. Most plants have been hit by the ban and mining activity has come to a grinding halt. If this situation continues, it may have an impact on steel prices.”

The report added that despite the promised price rollover by steel producers in August tight supply of finished steel will jack up prices unless situation improves. It added that “Already the marketing departments of large steel firms are considering a hike by about INR 750 per tonne to INR 1,000 per tonne although companies may not publicly announce the prices revisions.”

But Mr CS Verma chairman of SAIL said the crisis is temporary in nature and will not have an impact medium or long term.

He told ET that “I do not think the Bellary crisis will impact steel prices, per se. Moreover, low demand in the monsoon season will contain any adverse impact on steel industry. It is only after monsoon that steel demand picks up.”

(Sourced from ET)