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New Delhi: The steel ministry has communicated industry concerns about LPG supplies for domestic steel plants to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, a senior official said.Steelmakers use LPG for heating steel slabs, blooms and billets to rolling temperatures. The Iran war has crippled availability of the gas, and the government has prioritised supplies to homes for cooking while cutting down allocation for industrial use. "Industry concerns have been forwarded to the oil ministry," the steel ministry official said.In a representation to the government earlier this month, domestic steel producers said propane (LPG) supplies from alternative sources such as Russia are urgently needed to ensure uninterrupted operations in steel mills and downstream industries.Industry representatives say these fuels offer higher calorific values, better temperature control and significantly lower emissions of carbon and sulphur compared to alternatives like light diesel oils (LDO) and low sulphur heavy stock (LSHS).Besides, it also serves as the input for manufacture of HNO3 (nitric acid), calcined lime and ammonia, all of which are required in the manufacturing of stainless steel."The disruption is not limited to propane/LPG but there will be a cascading effect in terms of availability of other inputs as well," a sector watcher told ET. Steel industry is already facing problems with fuel suppliers expressing their inability to supply the required quantities, he said.