New Delhi: Close on the heels of the price hike of Rs500 per tonne by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), other private producers on Monday announced hike in prices of hot rolled coils by the same amount. The new prices would be in the range of Rs28,000 per tonne to Rs29,000 per tonne.

Contracted coking coal prices have gone up by 2.2 times for the year 2005 to $125 (about Rs5,600) from $58 (about Rs 2,600) last year. SAIL officials said they had last revised steel prices downward by Rs1,000 a tonne in August 2004.

The country's second-largest aluminium maker, Nalco said it had raised aluminium prices by Rs2,000 per tonne with effect from January 1. "The prices have been revised in line with the London Metal Exchange trend," a company spokesman said.