Tata Steel Vice-Chairman B Muthuraman recently told media that steel prices may further go up. He was talking to reporters during an event organized by CII. Upward trend is very likely, however, there is no exact percentage yet declared by steel major.

Muthuraman's statement came at a time when steel maker China Steel Corporation, Taiwan announced hike in steel prices in domestic markets. China Steel cited increased raw material cost as the reason for the increase in the prices. The same reason is cited by Tata Steel, here in India.

Muthuram told media that steel prices won't stop from rising, at least in near term.

But looking at the international markets, a 12% to 13% hike can be expected as China Steel has increased prices for April and May contracts by 12.1%. A Tata Steel official last month talked about increase in prices saying high input cost is the reason, despite increasing domestic demand.

Last month, it was predicted that despite increase in cost of steel from steel companies, demand won't see any effect. In fact, it is now estimated that steel demand may further increase. A big reason for increasing price of steel is ever increasing spot coking coal prices in Queensland.

According to estimates, price of coking coal will be 35% up during second quarter from first quarter, on account of increasing global demand. So Tata Steel is also looking to hike steel prices to discount increasing raw material prices.