China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, yesterday raised prices for some products for domestic delivery next month and next quarter as the global steel market is showing signs of a recovery.
The Kaohsiung-based company raised NT$300 (US$9.52) per tonne for the prices of hot-rolled steel, hot-rolled steel coil and cold-rolled steel for deliveries next month, and hiked NT$500 per tonne for the steel used in automobiles for next quarter’s deliveries, CSC said in a statement.
“The global steel market is recovering slowly, supporting a price uptrend in the short term,” the company said, adding that hot-rolled steel prices in the US have climbed to breach the psychological level of US$1,000 per tonne.
Hot-rolled steel prices in the EU and Canada have also risen slowly ahead of the implementation of new steel import quota policies, CSC said.
The EU plans to slash tariff-free steel import quotas by 47 percent and to double the out-of-quota duty to 50 percent to alleviate the impact of global steel overcapacity, starting in the second half of next year, it said.
In China, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼) has increased steel plate prices by 100 yuan (US$14.2) per tonne for next month’s deliveries as steel demand started stabilizing, CSC said.
As Beijing is to impose a new steel export licensing policy from next month, the rule would limit steel supply from China and would help stabilize steel prices in Asia, it said.
Meanwhile, steelmaking costs are rising, with the global price of iron ore jumping to between US$105 and US$110 per tonne, and the price of coking coal rising to US$215 per tonne, CSC said.
CSC reported a pretax loss of NT$4.99 billion in the first 10 months of this year as prices tumbled on sluggish demand, reversing a pretax profit of NT$3.75 billion in the same period last year.
