China’s leading steelmaker-Baosteel has released its flat steel product list prices today for May ’21. With this, the company has raised its list prices for the fifth straight month since the beginning of 2021.
As per the company’s official publication, the list prices for:
- HRC-up by RMB 400/t ($61)
- Heavy plates-increased by RMB 500/t ($76)
- CRC-raised by RMB 150/t ($23)
- Color coated price moved up by RMB 150/t ($23)
- Hot Dipped Galvanized products remain unchanged
These prices are of the Baoshan works in East China’s Shanghai, Meishan mill in East China’s Jiangsu, Qingshan plant in Central China’s Hubei and the Dongshan works in South China’s Guangdong province.
SteelMint’s analysis on the reasons behind the surge in prices:
1. Surging steel prices- Chinese flat steel prices continued their upward momentum alongside the market buzzing with the concern over the government lifting off the export rebate of 13% either partially or fully. The HRC (SS400) export offers, thus, surged by about 19% m-o-m to $830/t FoB China towards the end of Mar ’21, compared with $700/t FoB basis at the end of Feb ’21.
2. Production restrictions grow stringent- The inspection for the mills meeting their emission norms has grown further stringent. The Tangshan government has tightened the leash on activities of mills falling under the 450 cubic meter perimeter of the city premises.
3. Downstream demand continues to rise- The downstream demand in China has been on a gradual recovery after the infection cases (resurfaced in Dec ’20) declined after the Chinese New Year holidays in mid-Feb ’21. Further, the country’s Manufacturing PMI for Mar ’21 improved by 1.3% m-o-m to 51.9% as per the National Bureau of statistics.
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