The major Taiwan-based steel producer China Steel Corporation (CSC) has announced another round of domestic price increases, up eight percent for June, as global market prices have increased and prices in Taiwan were still lagging behind.
CSC has hiked its HR sheet and HR coils prices by NTD 2,300/mt ($82/mt) for June. “Owing to the economic recovery, the global demand for steel has risen sharply. Driven by tight supply and soaring costs of coal, iron ore and transportation, and environmental issues, international steel prices continued to hit record highs, and high steel prices gradually became a post-epidemic new normal. As domestic demand is not fully covered by CSC, some customers still need to rely on imports. At this stage, Sinosteel’s domestic sales prices are obviously lagging behind the international market,” CSC stated.
At the same time, CSC’s prices for CRC and HDG surged by NTD 2,500/mt ($89/mt) for June.
Though prices for HRC in the local Taiwanese market have improved, the recent increase was still smaller than among other Asian mills. For instance, Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh has hiked prices by $120/mt.
The latest ex-Taiwan HRC prices have been at $1,050/mt FOB and above depending on the sales destination, but market sources are worried about a possible retreat after the sharp losses in the Chinese market since late last week.
