Aluminium
cos toe LME line, hike prices
KOLKATA:
Domestic aluminium majors led by Hindalco Industries and National Aluminium
Company (Nalco) have raised the prices of aluminium products across
the board, prompted by strong demand and buoyant prices of the metal
at the London Metal Exchange (LME).
The
AV Birla group major, Hindalco has announced a price hike on all basic
grades of ingots and billets by Rs 1,000 per tonne, while prices of
wire rod products have been hiked by Rs 500 per tonne. The company’s
decision to revise prices comes after a gap of nearly 13 months. The
company had last revised prices on July 1, ‘02.
It
follows public sector major Nalco, which has decided to jack-up prices
by nearly Rs 1,500 per tonne on rolled products. While aluminium ingots
and billets are set to cost more by Rs 1,000 per tonne, prices of wire
rod products have been increased by Rs 500 per tonne, effective from
August 1.
The
AV Birla group major cited a combination of market forces that led it
to raise prices. A firm demand for the metal in the global as well as
domestic market, steady international price levels, domestic competition,
as well as cost escalation are among the factors that prompted metal
majors to hike prices.
In
particular, a steady increase in prices of the metal on LME contributed
to the upward revision in prices by domestic aluminium companies. Since
early June aluminium prices have shot up by nearly $100 per tonne and
are currently at $1,477 per tonne.
However,
Indian Aluminium, a subsidiary of Hindalco, does not produce ingots
and billets and hence Hindalco’s price hike on those products is not
effective in its case.
Almost
in tandem the stock market seems to have picked up the cue. A healthy
outlook for the metal has seen stock prices of Hindalco, Nalco and Indal
gaining in the wake of the price hikes. The Hindalco scrip went up by
over Rs 37 to Rs 848.85 over the last few weeks, while Nalco went up
8.1% to Rs 117.95. Indal gained Rs 12 to end at Rs 134.65.
RAKHI MAZUMDAR
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ THURSDAY, AUGUST
07, 2003 12:18:10 AM ]
