South Korea: POSCO to increase HRC prices by KRW 100,000/t ($81/t) in Apr’22

South Korea’s leading steel mill, POSCO is planning to increase hot rolled coils (HRC) prices by KRW 100,000/t ($81/t) for Apr’22 sales.

POSCO had lowered coil prices by KRW 50,000/t ($41/t) each in Dec’21 and Jan’22, but due to increased cost burden, the steel major raised HRC prices by the same quantum in March and is further mulling an increase in April prices.

Imported Australian iron ore Fe 62% prices in China are assessed at $144.9/t CFR, down $10/t w-o-w but the current levels are still higher. Meanwhile, coking coal prices are estimated to increase to $710/t, which is higher by more than $200/t from the lows of $500/t in early Jul’21 when the crude steel input costs peaked last year. Current prices of coking coal have crossed $670/t FOB Australia.

Factors supporting price hike-

Market insiders believe that Korean mills may have hiked prices considering the factors like increasing value of KRW against the dollar, rising raw material prices, and cost burden such as higher logistics costs due to the surge in oil prices.

It is to be noted that, downstream domestic demand is weak at these price levels. Also, concerns for supply are increasing due to scheduled repairs and maintenance of Gwangyang blast furnace and hot-rolling facilities in April. However, POSCO plans to run a stable supply channel to its users by reducing exports and using stockpiles.

Industry insiders feel that after POSCO, Hyundai Steel may also come up with price hikes for April deliveries.

Note: This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.