China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan’s largest steel mill headquartered in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, has decided to raise list prices of its major steel products further by TWD 500-1,200/tonne ($17.2-41.2/t) for sales in May to partly cover its higher raw material costs and to narrow the price gap between the local and overseas markets, according to a company release on April 15.
Taiwan mills’ production costs have grown significantly recently with the increased prices of steelmaking raw materials such as coal, iron ore and ferroalloys. Meanwhile, the weakening of the Taiwan dollar has also lifted local steel mills’ import costs for raw materials, CSC pointed out in the release.
Steel supply in the global market remains tight with the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the company noted, saying these have affected the normal production of steel mills in Ukraine and impacted the steel export business at ports along the Black Sea.
Steel mills in many countries are active in increasing their exports to European countries as the European Union had banned steel imports from Russia from April 1, resulting in tight supplies in Asia and other regions and boosting steel prices, according to the company release.
“The prices of hot-rolled coil in the Europe have exceeded $1,450/t, and those in the United States had surged to more than $1,600/t,” CSC said in the report.
Besides, CSC is optimistic about the economy both in Taiwan and worldwide, which also enticed it to lift prices. Taiwan’s fixed asset investment for 2021 had exceeded TWD 5,000 billion, laying the foundation for firm economic growth this year. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy may ease gradually with the improvement in vaccine coverage, the company expected.
However, the steel giant maintains that its steady pricing strategy is intended to share some profits with its downstream customers. “(Our) sales prices of major steel products such as HRC and cold-rolled coil are still lower compared with imported products,” CSC explained.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
Note- This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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