16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 15: Pakistan Steel, clarifying a news item: "Pakistan Steel raises prices" attributed to ICI, has said that PS supplies coke, which is a basic raw material for its blast furnaces, to various buyers including ICI to promote the local industry.

PS in a press release issued here on Saturday stated that in view of scarcity of coking coal in international market the present landed price of the material had risen to Rs26,000 per ton. But even at the cost of starving its own blast furnaces it had been meeting the needs of its customers at roughly half of the landed cost.

The press release claimed that M/s ICI, too, has expressed its surprise at attribution of the news item to it.

Regarding steel prices, it said the prices of PS billets had been static since March 4.