Steel prices likely to go up from April 1

There is going to be a fresh round of hike in steel prices-both for long and flat products as the international prices have gone up by almost USD 100 a tonne, along with a pick up in demand. Most steel makers in India will hike prices with effect from April 1, reports CNBC-TV18's correspondent Swati Khandelwal.

International steel prices have surged by almost Rs 5,000 per tonne in the last 45 days along with the cost of iron ore and coking coal going up by nearly 22% and expected to rise further.

The prices of flat products are likely to go up by approximately Rs 2,500 a tonne. The steel prices of long products too is likely to surge as the spot prices have been seeing an upward trend-it has been up almost Rs 1,000-1,500 per tonne in the last 15 days.

The prices of steel were hiked to the tune of Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 per tonne in February 2010.