Posted on 05 May 2023
Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco), Taiwan's largest stainless steel producer headquartered in Kaohsiung in South Taiwan, is adopting individual prices for sales in May, given the stainless market's uncertainty and the weakness of demand, Mysteel Global has learned.
"On Thursday evening, Yusco did not release any list prices for 300- and 400-series stainless for transactions next month as it usually does, (so) sales prices will be negotiated during actual trading," a local market source said.
In order to help its customers improve their competitiveness, Yusco had rolled over its list prices of 304-grade stainless hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) for local sales in March, as Mysteel Global reported, while those for April sales were trimmed by TWD 3,500/tonne ($114/t) on month.
Tang Eng Iron Works, another leading stainless producer headquartered in Kaohsiung, has adopted a similar policy for business discussions in May, mainly due to the fluctuation in the prices of stainless steelmaking raw materials, and the depressed demand among local and overseas buyers, the market source added.
For example, three-month nickel futures on the London Metal Exchange closed at $24,099/t as of April 27, up $256/t from one month before, but lower by $1,534/t compared with the recent high on April 18, according to the exchange's data.
However, Walsin Lihwa, a major stainless producer headquartered in Taipei in North Taiwan, has decided to hike its list prices of 300-series stainless products by TWD 1,500/t for local sales in May, Mysteel Global leaned, adopting the tactic partly to offset higher production costs.
Walshin's decision ends the continuous fall in its prices over the prior two months and was made despite the weak demand among its users, Mysteel Global understands. Walshin's list prices for 200- and 400-series stainless remain unchanged, however.
Source:Mysteel Global
