China Steel to increase domestic prices

China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation's largest steelmaker, will increase domestic prices of two products for delivery in the fourth quarter amid rising demand from shipbuilders.

The company will raise prices by an average of 0.48 percent, China Steel president Chen Yuan-cheng (陳源成) said yesterday.

China Steel is boosting capacity to meet rising demand from construction companies and manufacturers as the economy grows. The nation's GDP expanded 5.07 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Thursday.

``The overall market is fine,'' Chen said. "There's a shortage of steel plates because of demand from shipbuilding companies."

The company will increase the price of steel plates by NT$630 (US$19) a tonne and electrical sheets by NT$300 a tonne, the steelmaker said in a statement.

Prices of other products will be unchanged. Electrical sheets are used in home appliances and roofing.

China Steel shares fell NT$0.8, or 2 percent, to close at NT$39.3 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. The stock has advanced 12.8 percent this year, compared with a 9.7 percent gain in the benchmark TAIEX.

On Monday, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼), China's biggest steelmaker, unexpectedly cut fourth-quarter prices for its main products, dropping its benchmark prices by as much as 9.8 percent.