Major Taiwanese steel producer China Steel Corporation (CSC) has announced higher local prices for major flat steel products for April and the second quarter of 2020 despite the downtrend which has persisted in the international market lately.
After more than a year of preparation, CSC has applied monthly and quarterly pricing simultaneously instead of just the quarterly adjustments made previously. The hot rolled coil (HRC) prices of CSC for April have increased by NTD 300/mt ($10/mt), while CRC and HDG (for structure steel, coated steel) have added NTD 500/mt ($16/mt), the company said. Pricing for HR (RRQ), HRC, CRC, ES and HDG have been adjusted monthly in line with the global market trend, while prices for plates, bars and rods, automobile and home appliance steel, etc. will still be adjusted quarterly. Plate prices for the second quarter have been increased by NTD 600/mt ($20/mt), while bar and rods, special grades of HRC, CRC and HDG quotations have increased by NTD 500/mt ($16/mt).
“The steel demand of the second quarter is typically strong. However, to support downstream customers, CSC has reduced price several times before, and the price of the first quarter of this year is far below the international steel price. Considering the improvement of steel markets and increasing raw material costs, the global major steel mills have started to raise their selling prices in order to overcome the difficulties of heavy losses,” CSC explained it its report. The impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China on the steel industry will be short-lived and, with new supportive measures by the Chinese government, including tax cuts, demand and prices in China will improve starting from March, according to the Taiwanese producer.
$1 = NTD 30.4894
