Posted on 15 Feb 2023
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the listed-arm of the world's largest steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, has decided to add Yuan 200/tonne ($29.3/t) to its list prices of carbon steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) for domestic sales in March, after having lifted the list prices by Yuan 100/t for February sales, according to the company's new pricing policy released via its official WeChat account.
As usual, Baosteel did not disclose the actual list prices for its individual products in its monthly pricing policy, but just the margin of price adjustment, Mysteel Global noted.
The lift in sales prices reflected high production costs incurred by the mill and gave a boost to the market sentiment, a Shanghai-based analyst said.
Besides, Baosteel received more orders for March sales compared with the previous month, mainly due to an increasing demand from the manufacturing sector, which gave the mill some confidence to lift its prices, he added.
Moreover, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector returned to the expansion territory in January, indicating signs of the country's economic rebound. This also supported the rise in steel prices, he commented.
The official PMI reading climbed by 3.1 index points from last December to reach 50.1 in January, according to the latest release by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In addition to HRC, Baosteel will raise its list prices for pickled and oiled coils, cold-rolled coils, hot-dipped galvanized steel, electro-galvanized steel by Yuan 200/t for March sales. Meanwhile, the company's list prices for carbon steel plates and non-grain oriented electrical steel will be lifted by Yuan 300/t depending on specifications, and those for color-coated coils will also be raised by Yuan 100/t, according to the latest pricing policy.
The company will keep its list prices for grain oriented electrical steel unchanged for domestic sales in March, according to the release.
Source:Mysteel Global
