China Steel to reduce some prices in Q4

China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan's largest steelmaker, will lower prices for seven products for customers in the fourth quarter after prices fell in China. It's the firm's first price cut in about three years.

The reductions will range from NT$750 (US$23.25) to NT$2,500 a tonne, the Kaohsiung-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. China Steel didn't disclose current prices or the size of the changes in percentage terms.

"The mainland market has been sliding, pressuring our customers to cut costs," Chen Tse-hao (陳澤浩), China Steel vice president, said by phone from Kaohsiung yesterday. "The growth in supply has outpaced demand" in China, he said.

A surge in world steel output and the Chinese government's moves to curb investments in real estate have led international steel prices to fall since April. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶山鋼鐵), China's largest steelmaker said on Tuesday it will cut prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel.

China Steel said it cut prices for hot-rolled steel by an average NT$2,400 a tonne and those for cold-rolled steel by NT$1,170. The company reduced the price of electrical sheets by an average of NT$2,500 a tonne and electro galvanized sheets by NT$750. Prices of hot-dip zinc-galvanized sheets will fall by NT$1,170.

Hot-rolled steel is used to make cold-rolled steel. Cold-rolled steel and zinc-galvanized sheets are used to make car bodies and home appliances.