China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), Taiwan’s largest integrated steelmaker, on Thursday announced it would keep domestic prices for most products unchanged for next month in a move to hedge against risks in the wake of the US government’s new tariffs.
The move came after US President Donald Trump on Monday last week signed orders to implement a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports.
Last year, iron and steel products were Taiwan’s fifth-largest exports to the US at US$4.3 billion, according to data provider CEIC.
“China Steel continues to pay attention to market development as global manufacturing demand is still in a slow recovery phase, while Trump’s trade policy poses great uncertainty,” the company said in a statement.
“In order to assist downstream partners to respond flexibly, China Steel decides to maintain its prices for most products in March and will continue to launch various supporting programs to help customers win orders,” the Kaohsiung-based company said.
For next month’s delivery, the steelmaker only raised the price for its hot-rolled steel coils by NT$300 per tonne, it said.
Prices for other items, including hot-rolled steel plates, cold-rolled steel coils, anti-fingerprint electro-galvanized steel coils, hot-dipped galvanized steel coils and electrical steel coils would remain flat, it said.
The company said it expects a significant improvement in the steel market at the end of this quarter, as the IMF predicts the world economy to grow 3.5 percent this year and Taiwan’s domestic demand has rebounded gradually aided by new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
In addition, iron ore and coal prices remain stable at US$100 to US$110 and US$185 to US$195 per tonne respectively, while China is promoting an industrial transformation in its steel sector, which all lead to a supply-demand balance and support the market going forward, the company said.
On the price front, China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼), the country’s largest steelmaker, raised domestic prices of steel plates by 100 yuan (US$13.79) per tonne for delivery next month, while US steel prices have shown an uptrend recently, with Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on all steel imports likely to fuel further price hikes and benefit firms’ profitability, the company said.
On Tuesday last week, China Steel chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said Trump’s universal tariffs on all steel imports are expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, and boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market.
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