We won't cut prices, say steel makers

Raw material prices are above 2007 levels whereas finished product prices have fallen, they argue. Domestic producers of hot rolled (HR) steel, the intermediate that is used by automobile and consumer durables manufacturers, have emphatically ruled out the possibility of dropping prices ahead of the imposition of a safeguard duty on imports. Last week, Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai had said HR producers needed to cut prices before the government would consider their demand for a safeguard duty against cheaper imports. The producers, however, said there was no scope to cut because raw material costs hadn't fallen as sharply as prices of the finished product.