Corus Group Plc, the U.K.'s biggest steelmaker, plans to raise steel prices next month to pass on raw- material costs to its customers, a company statement said.

London-based Corus will raise the price of structural sections, used in construction, by 20 pounds ($36.91) a metric ton. The increase will become effective on Oct.2, the statement today said.

``Raw materials are purchased at a price dictated by the global market and the constant upward pressure on costs means we have to increase prices for our U.K. structural sections,'' Jonathan Sochart, general manager for sales and marketing of sections, said in an e-mailed statement.

Corus is the first of the biggest European steelmakers to announce a price increase for the fourth quarter. Mittal Steel Co., the world's largest steel company, declined to say whether it would raise prices, Nicola Davidson, a spokeswoman, said.

Luc Scheer, a spokesman for Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA, the world's No. 2 steelmaker, declined to comment.

Iron ore prices rose 71.5 percent this year, while coking coal more than doubled. Benchmark steel prices in Europe have fallen 35 percent in 2005 to $385 a metric ton, according to Metal Bulletin.