China Steel Corp (中鋼), the largest steelmaker in Taiwan, yesterday raised steel prices by a moderate NT$300 per tonne for domestic deliveries next month to reflect higher manufacturing costs as customers are experiencing a nascent demand recovery amid an improving world economy.
End customers are also rebuilding inventory as a prolonged Red Sea shipping crisis has raised concern about supply chain disruptions and upended world trade, the Kaohsiung-based steelmaker said in a statement. Most shippers have avoided Red Sea routes amid Houthi attacks.
That was the third straight month of price hikes, reinforcing the company’s optimism about this year’s revival from the industry’s one-and-a-half-year slump.
Photo courtesy of China Steel Corp
To seize growth opportunities, China Steel aims to boost its shipments of higher-margin advanced premium steel this year to 9.5 percent of total shipments, from 7.6 percent last year, company chairman Wong Chao-tung (翁朝棟) told investors last month.
Advanced steel is used in electric car motors, new-generation vehicles and military applications, it said.
“Overall, global steel prices are on the rise,” China Steel said.
In the US, economic stimulus such as stepping up public infrastructure and reviving the housing and auto sectors should serve as catalysts, the steelmaker said.
In China and Taiwan, steel demand was fueled by robust vehicle sales, China Steel said.
New vehicle sales in China exceeded 30 million units last year, while Taiwan experienced the best new car sales in 18 years with 476,987 units, it said.
World crude steel supply had shrunk for nine consecutive months to 150 million tonnes in November last year, China Steel said, citing figures from the World Steel Association.
That would further propel the steel industry’s uptrend, the company added.
China Steel said it increased steel prices at a slower pace compared with its global peers due to rising manufacturing costs.
US and European steelmakers Cleveland-Cliffs Inc and ArcelorMittal SA hiked prices by US$55 per tonne this month, while South Korean steelmakers raised prices by US$38 per tonne this month and warned about further hikes next month, China Steel said.
The price of iron ore has jumped to US$145 per tonne, hitting the highest in about one-and-a-half years, it said.
The price of coking coal is also hovering at a high of US$330 and US$340 per tonne, the company said.
China Steel increased prices for most steel products from cold-rolled to hot-rolled steel by NT$300 per tonne, except for electrical steel coils and electro-galvanized steel coils, with prices holding steady.
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