China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steelmaker, has decided to raise its domestic steel product prices for the first time in six months to reflect rising raw material costs.
The Greater Kaohsiung-based company yesterday said it would increase prices for October and November contracts by an average of NT$379 per tonne, or 1.86 percent, it said in a statement.
“The higher costs [of raw materials] have lent support to higher steel prices in China and Taiwan,” China Steel vice president for sales Liu Jih-gang (劉季剛) said by telephone.
The average price for iron ore was 27 percent higher at US$140 per tonne this month from US$110 in early June, while the average price of coal rose 13.38 percent to US$161 per tonne from US$142 in late June, Liu said.
China Steel has seen rising orders as its downstream customers increase inventory in anticipation of a global economic recovery.
The company said economic conditions in Europe have shown signs of improvement, with economies in Japan, China and the US also growing.
“Another crucial reason for [China Steel’s decision] to increase prices is global steel prices have risen compared with a month ago,” said Steve Lee (李慶超), another China Steel vice president.
Lee added that several US steel companies are scheduled to shut down their furnaces for maintenance next quarter, which will reduce steel supply.
Lee said that revenues for next quarter would increase sequentially on the back of rising steel prices and orders.
Liu forecast a 1.04 percent increase in shipments to 2.9 million tonnes next quarter from 2.87 million tonnes this quarter.
Under the company’s latest price adjustments, prices for benchmark hot-rolled steel sheets and coils are set to rise by NT$708 per tonne, while those for cold-rolled steel sheets and coils, which are mainly used in the automobile industry, will increase by NT$523 per tonne.
Electro-galvanized steel sheet prices will rise by NT$600 per tonne, while those for electrical sheets, which are mainly used to manufacture home appliances, will increase by NT$510 per tonne.
Prices for hot-dipped, zinc-galvanized steel sheets will climb by NT$470 per tonne.
However, the company kept the prices of steel plates and steel bars and rods unchanged.
“Demand for steel plates is relatively weak, and we are keeping the prices of steel bars and rods unchanged to help our customers remain competitive,” Liu said.
China Steel shares dropped 0.39 percent to NT$25.30 yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which rose 1.32 percent.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS