Shagang announces early July prices

SteelOrbis Shanghai On July 1, Jiangsu province based steelmaker Shagang announced the ex-factory prices for the first ten days of July. The rebar price decreased by RMB 620/mt ($78), and the current ex-factory price of 16-25 mm thick HRB335 became RMB 2,980/mt ($373). Meanwhile, wire rod price was reduced by RMB 300/mt ($38), the current ex-factory price of 6.5 mm Q235 high speed wire rod is RMB 3,500/mt ($438). These prices include VAT and are effective as of July 1, 2006. In June, Shagang had continuously hiked its long products' ex-factory prices. But with the coming of the off-season and the clearer macro-control measures, it is hard for the market to accept Shagang's ex-factory prices, which obliged it to reduce the prices considerably and give its traders a price subsidy of RMB 250/mt ($31) for the supplies in the last ten-days of July, in order to minimize their losses.