China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s largest steelmaker, yesterday announced modestly lower prices for certain products for domestic delivery next month, its first price cut since July last year.
The company’s move came after global steel prices have shown mixed developments in various regions recently due to political and economic factors, while the market has continued to consolidate.
It also reflected CSC's concerns for domestic downstream companies that are facing supply chain bottlenecks and rising shipping costs, as well as pressures for inventory and fund adjustments before the end of the year, the company said in a statement.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Apart from electro-galvanized sheets and electrical sheets, prices for other products would decrease by an average of 1.65 percent on a monthly basis, the company said.
Hot-rolled steel plates, hot rolled steel, cold-rolled steel and hot-dipped zinc-galvanized sheets are to decrease by NT$600 per tonne, it said.
The company said that it remains positive about the industry’s outlook for next year, adding that the World Steel Association in its latest assessment predicted global steel demand would grow 2.2 percent next year from this year, or an increase of 41 million tonnes to 1.896 billion tonnes.
China’s restriction on steel production as Beijing aims to implement stricter environmental and electricity policies would also further tighten the supply of steel, the company said.
The steel market in Taiwan is expected to continue benefiting from manufacturers reshoring their businesses and the implementation of government-backed infrastructure projects, CSC said.
The US$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that was on Nov. 5 passed by the US House of Representatives for roads, bridges and port improvements is forecast to boost steel demand by 3 to 4 percent, the American Iron and Steel Institute said.
CSC said that would also benefit Taiwan’s steel industry.
The company said the industry is facing growing pressure regarding environmental, social and governance issues, as well as sustainable development challenges, to address emission reductions.
CSC said that it is tracking the carbon footprint of its products, and is introducing lower-carbon equipment and techniques to prepare for carbon surcharges on products starting in August next year.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
RSS