News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 24 Jun 2010

Posco Raises Steel Prices by Up to 5.9% as Costs Gain

Posco, South Korea’s biggest steelmaker, raised domestic prices by as much as 5.9 percent for the third quarter as raw material costs gained.

 

Posco raised the price of hot-rolled coil by 5.9 percent to 900,000 won ($759) a metric ton for the three months ended Sept. 30 and for cold-rolled coil by 5.7 percent to 1.02 million won, the Pohang-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.

 

The increase follows a 25 percent price jump in May to cover higher costs for iron ore and coal, the main steelmaking materials. Brazil’s Vale SA, the biggest supplier of iron ore, and BHP Billiton Ltd. this year broke with a 40 year-tradition of setting annual prices for iron ore and coal, winning as much as 90 percent gain for April quarter contracts.

 

The rise is “inevitable” as raw-material prices rose more than 20 percent on average for July quarter contracts from the previous quarter, the statement said.

 

Posco shares declined 1.1 percent to 487,000 won at 9:25 a.m. in Seoul trading, compared with a 0.8 percent drop on the benchmark Kospi index.