China Steel Corp (
The reductions will range from NT$740 to NT$3,750 a tonne for six products in the three months beginning January, the company said in a statement yesterday.
That compares with cuts of between NT$750 to NT$2,500 for seven products in the fourth quarter, the Kaohsiung-based company's first price reductions in about three years.
Steel prices in China, the world's largest producer and user of the alloy, have fallen more than a fifth since the year started as output is rising at the fastest pace in at least nine years, creating a glut.
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼), the mainland's largest steelmaker, announced price cuts on Nov. 22.
Competitiveness
"China Steel will lower domestic prices for most products in the first quarter next year to maintain customers' competitiveness," after Baoshan Iron & Steel reduced prices, the Taiwanese steelmaker said in the statement.
China Steel didn't disclose current prices or the size of the changes in percentage terms. The company sells about 10 percent of its products to China.
Shanghai-based Baoshan Steel said it will cut prices of hot-rolled coil steel to 3,500 yuan (US$433) a tonne in the first quarter and cold-rolled steel prices will be lowered by 800 yuan.
"China's steel production capacity is far more than demand and the gap isn't likely to be balanced in the next two years," said Jonathan Liao, analyst at SinoPac Securities Corp (
China Steel said it cut prices for hot-rolled steel by an average NT$2,370 a tonne and those for cold-rolled steel by NT$1,860.
The company also reduced the price of electrical sheets by an average of NT$3,750 a tonne and that of hot-dip zinc-galvanized sheets by NT$930.
It cut prices for steel plates by NT$740 a tonne and those for bar-and-wire rods by NT$1,410.
The price of electro galvanized sheets will be unchanged.
After privatization, the government remains the single largest shareholder in China Steel with a stake of 23.3 percent.
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
RSS