World Bank figures: Steel prices continue rise in March
The World Bank yesterday released its monthly commodity price report for March. According to the report, the average price of Australian coal for March 2005 was $52.67/mt, up nearly 2% from the February average of $51.65/mt. The slight increase pushed the average price of Australian coal for the first three months of the year to $53.04/mt. The price of CVRD Carajas sinter feed iron ore FOB Ponta da Madeira for Europe in March remained as c65.00 /dmtu. The prices of steel products included in the Japanese petroleum index (1990=100) rose from 132.7 points in February to 136.9 points in March, a 3% gain. Eight products –rebar, merchant bar, wire rod, section (H-shape), medium plate, hot rolled coil sheet, cold rolled coil sheet and galvanized iron sheet– are included in the calculation. Average cold rolled coil sheet prices in March came out to $712.5/mt, a 3.6% increase from February's $687.50/mt average. The quarterly average price of cold rolled coil sheet, $683.3, saw a 5.1% increase from the previous quarter. Prices of hot rolled coil sheet were $612.5/mt in March, a 9.6% increase from $587.5/mt in February. The growing hot rolled coil prices brought the average of the first quarter to $583.3/mt. The averages of each of the previous two quarters were $550/mt. The average price of rebar increased to $407.5/mt in March. The price had previously remained unchanged at $400/mt since July 2004. The price of steel wire rod continued to remain at an average $550/mt, unchanged since July 2004. On the other hand, the World Bank's metals and minerals price index for low and middle income countries (1990=100) reached 142.4 points, up almost 3.2% from February 2005. The quarterly average of the index reached 138.4 points.