Corus announces £60/t steel price hike

Corus has announced its highest ever single price hike on structural steel sections.

The steelmaking giant, bought by Indian form Tata steel for £6.2bn last year, has raised based prices for structural steel by £60/t, taking the cost of simple sections beyond £1000/t. It will apply to all material dispatched from 30th March 2008 and is likely to add to the pressure on construction inflation.

Corus blamed an increase in raw materials costs due to high global demand, particularly from Asia, adding that UK demand in 2007 was close to the peak experienced in 2004.

Derek Tordoff, chairman of the British Constructional Steelwork Association, said the increase was similar to price rises in other construction products.

He explained: "It needs to be seen in context as rebar and concrete has also gone up in price. Steel just seems like a bigger increase but, as less is used, it’s relatively the same."

"Contractors should expect further increases later in the year, though not as high as this one."

A Corus spokeswoman said: "Our price increases are handled and taken at a business unit level. We simply respond to market conditions."