Steel: Creating backward linkages

Galloping iron ore and coal prices have posed a potent threat to the margins of steel producers, especially with pressures mounting on them to hold their domestic price line. On an average, the proportion of raw material to net sales for major steel producers increased from 36.2 per cent to 39.4 per cent in 2007-08. As a proportion of total expenditure, raw material costs rose from 48.5 per cent to 53.7 per... [read full story]