China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan’s largest producer, said it intends to increase June domestic product prices to reflect rising raw material costs.
The Kaohsiung-based company will announce price changes next month, executive vice president Chung Le-min (鍾樂民) said by telephone yesterday. China Steel could raise domestic prices by as much as 12 percent in June, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
“We should be raising prices as raw material costs are gaining too much,” Chung said, declining to give details.
On Tuesday, Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore producer, and BHP Billiton Ltd ended a 40-year system of setting annual prices by signing short-term contracts with Asian mills, with the Brazilian company winning a 90 percent increase.
Sumitomo Metal Industries Co, Japan’s third-biggest steelmaker, agreed to pay Vale between US$100 and US$110 per tonne for the quarter starting today, spokesman Toshifumi Matsui said. BHP, the largest mining company, said it will sell the majority of its production to Asian steel mills on shorter-term contracts without giving pricing.
Chung declined to comment on talks with the suppliers.
The Taiwanese steelmaker on Feb. 24 announced an average 2.9 percent price increase for the April-to-May period.
Shares of China Steel were unchanged at NT$32.85 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. The stock has dropped 0.45 percent since the beginning of the year, compared with a decline of 3.27 percent on the TAIEX.
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