Posted on 31 Aug 2023
Total sales of carbon steel items of China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's top integrated steel producer, reversed down in July to reach 610,673 tonnes, lower by 36,883 tonnes or 5.7% from the prior month, according to the company's latest release.
The on-month fall mainly reflected the decrease in new orders from overseas buyers, and local customers were also inactive in building up stocks after noting the depressed international market, according to CSC.
The steel giant headquartered in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan continued to operate at a loss in July, with its pre-tax loss deepening to TWD 401 million ($12.6 million) from the loss of TWD 35 million over the previous month, its release on Monday showed.
Apart from the reduction in carbon steel sales, the further decrease in its list prices of major steel products for July sales was cited as another reason for its poor business performance last month, Mysteel Global noted.
For local sales in July, CSC had cut its list prices of major steel products by another TWD 1,000-1,500/t to reflect the price trend in the global market, as reported.
For the first seven months of this year, CSC's total carbon steel sales came in at 4.47 million tonnes, lower by 894,488 tonnes or 16.7% compared with the same period last year. Its total pre-tax profits also slumped by TWD 30.2 billion or 96% on year to reach TWD 1.28 billion over January-July, according to the CSC release.
However, CSC believes that steel demand may recover gradually in the coming peak season for steel consumption, and steel supply and demand may return to balance with the recovery in the global economy.
The positive sentiment encouraged the company to lift its list prices of major steel products further by TWD 500-900/t on month for business discussions in September, according to its release on August 15.
Source:Mysteel Global
