World Bank sees increase in February steel prices

World Bank sees increase in February steel prices

The World Bank yesterday released its monthly commodity price report for February. According to the report, the average price of Australian coal for February 2005 was $51.65/mt, down nearly 9% from the January average of $54.79/mt. The average price of the Australian coal for the first two months of the year came out to 53.22$/mt because of the decrease. The price of CVRD Carahas sinter feed iron ore FOB Ponta da Madeira for Europe in the February period was c37.90 /dmtu. The average price did not change during the 2005 fiscal year, and the recently agreed upon increases of 71.5% are awaited as of April 01. The prices of steel products included in the Japanese petroleum index (1990=100) increased slightly more than 3%, from 128.6 points in January to 132.7. 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 February were $687.5/mt, a 5.7% increase from the $650/mt average price of January. Prices of hot rolled coil sheet were $587.5/mt in February, up 9% from $550/mt. This is the first month these items have shown an increase since July 2004. The average prices of rebar and wire rods continued to remain the same since July 2004 at $400/mt and $550/mt respectively.