Baosteel, Wuhan Steel Keeps October Prices Flat

* Baosteel, Wuhan Steel keeps October prices flat * A move keen to stabilise the tumbling market BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Baoshan Iron and Steel, China's largest listed steelmaker, will roll over its September steel prices to October after three straight months of cuts, a move some analysts said was aimed at stabilising a market hit by weak demand. Baosteel's pricing decisions usually set the tone for the rest of the market, and its cuts last month were matched by most other big steelmakers which have been hit by the slowdown in the world's second largest economy. The company, known as Baosteel, said on Tuesday it would keep prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil unchanged for October from September. Wuhan Iron & Steel preceded Baosteel by telling clients on Monday that it was keeping product prices steady in October, traders said. "Wuhan Steel was the first to make the move this time, in a desperate move to stabilise the market and hope other mills will follow, " said Cheng Xubao, analyst with industry consultancy Custeel. Com in Beijing. "But prices are still up to demand and the overall economic environment. " Baosteel said during an online briefing to shareholders in late August that the third quarter was likely to be the "most difficult" of the year as a result of tepid demand and falling domestic steel product prices. China Metallurgical News, an industry journal affiliated with the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), warned last week of the impact of a "vicious price war" on China's already fragile steel sector. The paper said in an editorial that no steel firm appears willing to make the production cuts necessary to shore up prices, preferring instead to try to undercut their rivals by slashing prices, waiving freight costs or even allowing traders to pay in installments. According to the latest CISA data, daily Chinese steel production stood at 1.872 million tonnes over the Aug. 21-31 period, down 3 percent compared to the previous 10 days. Many traders hope that the worst is now over for the steel sector, particularly after the government announced that it would spend more than $150 billion on a new round of infrastructure projects. News of the stimulus has driven Shanghai steel rebar futures out of the doldrums temporarily, and the most-traded October contract has lost 1 percent on Tuesday after surging 7 percent in the past two sessions. Prices remain 20 percent lower than their 2012 peak set in April. (Reporting by David Stanway and Ruby Lian; Editing by Miral Fahmy) Source: Reuters