News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 23 Sep 2009

China's Hebei Steel cuts key rebar price by 10 pct

China's Hebei Iron and Steel Group, the world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, cut the price of reinforcing bar used in building construction by 10 percent, industry consultancy Umetal said, as excess supply weighs on the market.

Surging steel production in China, which hit a monthly record of 52.33 million tonnes in August, has pushed domestic prices down about 20 percent since early August, as steadily recovering demand lags a more rapid rise in supply.

 

Several small steel mills in China's top steel-producing province of Hebei have cut output due to lower steel prices but major steel mills have not followed suit, industry analysts and company officials have said, warning of further price declines.

 

Hebei Steel, China's second-biggest steel maker and a major supplier to the construction sector, cut its benchmark reinforcing steel bar price to 3,550 yuan ($520) a tonne from 3,950 yuan, which was in place from the start of September, Umetal said, citing a company sales notice issued on Wednesday.

 

Hebei Steel officials could not immediately be reached for comment, and an official in the board office of Tangshan Iron and Steel Co, a listed unit of the company, declined to comment.

 

The price cut will go into effect from Wednesday, the consultancy quoted Hebei Steel as saying.

 

Hebei Steel was formed by a merger of the state-owned parents of Tangshan Iron and Steel, Handan Iron and Steel Co and ferroalloy producer Chengde Xinxin Vanadium and Titanium Co.

 

The steel mill, which lags only Baosteel, parent of Baoshan Iron and Steel, in steel production volume in China, also cut its price for hot-rolled coil by 400 yuan, or 10 percent, to 3,650 yuan a tonne.

 

It also reduced the price for cold-rolled coil used by the automotive and appliance sectors by 700 yuan, or 13 percent, to 4,650 yuan a tonne. ($1=6.826 Yuan)