China Steel Corp. Will Raise Domestic April-May Prices by an Average of 1.11%

TAIPEI – China Steel Corp., Taiwan's largest steel producer by revenue, said Tuesday that it will raise domestic April-May prices by an average of 1.11% compared with March, on the back of a recent recovery in global steel prices, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The company said steel mills worldwide have raised prices recently, with most Chinese steelmakers hiking prices for next month’s contracts, while export prices of steel products from Japan and South Korea continue to rise, Taiwan Times reported. "[The] global steel market has shown signs of bottoming out, ” CSC said in a separate statement. “[Taiwan’s] downstream industries have resumed taking new orders from both local and overseas clients because of an improving international political/economic environment and rising global steel prices. ” The Greater Kaohsiung-based firm said it would increase steel prices for April and May deliveries for its domestic downstream customers by an average of NT$270 a tonne, or 1.11 percent, from next month’s levels, with hot-rolled coil, a benchmark product, rising by NT$452 per tonne. But the prices of the general steel plate and wire rod keep unchanged. The company had kept local prices unchanged for March, after cutting January-February prices by an average of 7.08% to NT$1, 756 a tonne, due to sluggish demand and falling global steel prices. Prior to the announcement, the company was forecast to hike prices by 3 percent for April and May contracts, Credit Suisse analysts led by Sidney Yeh said in a note issued on Thursday, citing improved demand from customers’ restocking and mild price increases by its regional peers. While the prices of major steel products have rebounded after the Lunar New Year holiday, CSC said downstream industries remain vulnerable to global economic uncertainties and a rising New Taiwan dollar. Under the latest pricing adjustments, CSC will raise prices for steel plates used in construction by NT$32 a tonne for April and May shipments. The company will also increase the price of cold-rolled sheets and coils, which are used in the automotive industry, by NT$350 a tonne. It will add NT$500 to the cost of electro-galvanized sheets, NT$246 to electrical sheets and NT$500 to the price of hot-dipped zinc-galvanized sheets. CSC’s share price was unchanged yesterday, closing at NT$30.25 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The stock has risen 5.03 percent since the beginning of the year, underperforming the benchmark TAIEX’s 12.01 percent rise. China Steel sells about 75% of its output locally and exports the rest, mostly to China and Japan. Source:chinafastener.info