Posted on 26 Feb 2016
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s largest steelmaker, yesterday raised its prices by an average of 3.1 percent per tonne for next month and May deliveries thanks to improving supply conditions.
It marks the second consecutive price hike by CSC after increasing orders showed signs of recovery from the industry’s worst slump since 2008.
Last month, CSC increased its prices by 2.3 percent for next month’s deliveries.
“As China has expanded its supply reform by cutting [excess] capacity, global oversupply might balance out,” CSC said in a statement released yesterday.
In addition, the US Federal Reserve is easing the pace of its monetary tightening, which has fueled a rebound in prices for commodities, especially iron ore and crude oil, CSC said.
The combined factors “have improved the sentiment in the global steel market. Global steel prices have been staging a broad rebound after receiving a boost from inventory buildup demand at the end of last year,” the statement said.
Last month, CSC revised its shipment target for this quarter upwards by about 17 percent to 3.15 million tonnes from the previous estimate of 2.7 million tonnes on improving demand.
The company posted a combined pre-tax income of NT$2.78 billion (US$83 million) over the past four months.
The Kaohsiung-based company hiked the price of steel plates by NT$773 per tonne and raised the price of benchmark hot-rolled sheets by NT$539 per tonne, according to the statement.
The company increased the price of cold-rolled sheets by NT$623 per tonne and raised the price of electrical sheets used in the manufacturing of home appliances by NT$600 per tonne while increasing the price of steel bars and wire rods by NT$300 per tonne.
