China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s largest integrated steelmaker, yesterday said that it would raise domestic steel prices by 9.5 percent for delivery next month, with the hike exceeding market expectations.
The adjustment is the eighth straight month of increases for the Kaohsiung-based company.
Prices are to increase by NT$2,200 per tonne for hot-rolled steel, hot-rolled plates and electro-galvanized sheets, NT$2,500 per tonne for cold-rolled steel and NT$3,000 per tonne for electrical sheets, CSC said in a statement.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
The company attributed the price hikes to increased raw material costs for steelmakers and robust demand for steel, it said.
On the supply side, iron ore prices are at “a 10-year high” of up to US$170 per tonne, the company said, citing market concern about supply constraints at Brazilian and Australian mining operations.
Along with coal prices remaining high — up to US$105 per tonne — CSC’s costs for steel production have jumped “by US$60 to US$65 per tonne,” it said.
Global demand for steel has soared as economies around the world continue to recover, it said.
“It is not unusual to see buyers chasing limited supply, and some Japanese steelmakers have put January orders on hold,” CSC said.
Japanese hot-rolled steel has traded for as much as US$800 per tonne, while in Europe it has broken US$850 and in the US reached US$1,200, closing in on a record, CSC said.
Hot-rolled steel is mainly used in the manufacturing of automobiles, home appliances and sports gear.
CSC said domestic steel prices still lag behind international prices, indicating that there remains room for increases.
“Although our prices for domestic delivery are far lower than international levels, we have to take into consideration the competitiveness of downstream companies as the New Taiwan dollar rises” against the US dollar, CSC said.
“We are keeping to our principles of smooth and stable pricing, while reflecting material costs,” it said.
Meanwhile, the company on Monday called for discipline among Taiwanese steel companies amid an overheated local market.
“There have been reports of steel firms hoarding stock and pushing prices up. We call upon the industry to maintain an orderly market,” CSC said.
soft landing: The US’ rate-setting FOMC finds itself in a difficult situation as it seeks to address inflation through interest rate hikes while avoiding a recession The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a summer of mixed economic data, while leaving the door open to another hike if needed. The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times over the past 18 months, lifting its key lending rate to a level not seen for 22 years as it tackles inflation still stubbornly above its long-term target of 2 percent. Analysts and traders broadly expect the US central bank to hold rates steady on Wednesday in order to give policymakers more time to assess the health of the world’s largest economy. “We think
AI TREND: TSMC has been rapidly expanding capacity to meet a spike in demand for advanced packaging services, but still expects supplies to be tight for 18 months Arizona is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) about advanced chip packaging, state Governor Katie Hobbs said yesterday, which is crucial for the manufacturing of artificial intelligence (AI) chips. TSMC, which is building a US$40 billion chip factory in the US state, has not announced plans to build facilities for advanced chip packaging in the US. Advanced packaging processes stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the added cost of more powerful computing. “Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that
At a sprawling South Korean arms factory on Friday, a high-tech production line of robots and super-skilled workers were rapidly churning out weapons that could, eventually, play a role in Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion last year, the Hanwha Aerospace factory in the southern city of Changwon has expanded production capacity three times, workers told reporters, as South Korea ramps up arms exports while traditional behemoths like the US struggle with production shortages. Longstanding domestic policy bars Seoul from selling weapons into active conflicts, but even so it signed deals worth US$17.3 billion last year, including a US$12.7 billion agreement with NATO
Tailwinds: Blockbuster earnings at Nvidia Corp have sparked hopes of a tech sector boom; Taiwanese chipmakers are hopeful benefits will come to them too The worst could be over for the New Taiwan dollar as China’s economic recovery and a rebound in the chip industry will support the beleaguered currency, analysts said. The NT dollar is on course to weaken for a sixth month, the longest stretch since 2006, after foreign funds turned sour on its technology sector and risk sentiment deteriorated on slower growth in China. The tide seems to be turning now on nascent signs of stabilization in China’s economy — its biggest trading partner — following policy boosts. The yuan emerged as the best-performing Asian currency last week, followed by the Japanese yen
RSS