China Steel profit last month surges from February to NT$947.92 million

China Steel Corp (中鋼), the largest steelmaker in Taiwan, yesterday reported pre-tax profit of NT$947.92 million (US$30.93 million) for last month, surging from a pre-tax profit of NT$69.3 million in February, as a result of a higher number of shipments and a rise in average selling prices.

Shipments of carbon steel expanded 3.62 percent to 691,344 tonnes last month from 667,207 tonnes the previous month, the company said in a statement.

China Steel also raised domestic steel prices to NT$1,200 per tonne for last month’s deliveries, matching its global peers to reflect rising raw material costs.

During the first three months of this year, the company posted pre-tax losses of NT$74.97 million, compared with losses of NT$7.19 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.

China Steel reported pre-tax profit of NT$14.5 billion in the first quarter of last year, company data showed.

Demand in the domestic market remains muted in the short term due to inventory digestion by downstream companies, the company said.

The firm expects demand to rebound in the second half of the year, aided by government tax incentives intended to boost purchases of new vehicles and energy-efficient home appliances.

Recovering steel consumption for new housing projects should also help demand, it said.

Given the dynamics of supply and demand in the global steel market, a persistent decline in international crude steel production would help bolster steel prices, China Steel said.

Global crude steel production dropped 1 percent annually to 142.4 million tonnes in February, marking the fourth straight month of decline, it added.