According to Taiwanese steel producer China Steel Corp.'s (CSC) executive vice president L.M. Chung, the company is considering raising the price of domestic products for July and August as demand has picked up.
In order to make a decision on the price increase, the company will hold a price meeting on Wednesday, June 10. If prices are raised, it would be the first hike for CSC since the last quarter of 2008.
Declining to be more specific on prices, Mr. Chung commented, "Our downstream customers have raised their resale prices, and we will reflect that."
In the first quarter of 2009, CSC lowered its prices by a record 22.56 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. It also cut its prices by 14.03 percent for the April-May period compared to the first quarter, and by 9.41 percent for June compared to the April-May period.
In mid-April CSC shut for maintenance its No. 3 blast furnace which has an annual capacity of 2.8 million mt, and in November will shut its No. 1 blast furnace which has an annual capacity of 1.9 million mt.
Meanwhile, in the annual iron ore contract price talks CSC recently agreed with Australian miner Rio Tinto on a 33 percent cut for fine iron ore and a 44.4 percent cut for lump iron ore. The company is expecting similar price cuts from Australia's BHP Billiton and a larger cut from Brazil's Vale due to the higher shipping costs involved.
CSC needs about 15-16 million mt of iron ore per year, with each of the three major iron ore producers supplying about a third of that amount.