Posted on 01 Sep 2023
Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco), Taiwan's largest stainless steel producer headquartered in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, has decided to hike its stainless list prices again for transactions in September to reflect their higher production costs, Mysteel Global learned.
For local sales in September, Yusco's list prices for 304-grade stainless hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) have been lifted by TWD 3,500/tonne ($110/t) on month, and those for 430-grade stainless HRC and CRC have been raised by TWD 1,000/t from the prior month, a company official confirmed.
As for the business with overseas customers in September, Yusco has hiked its list prices of 304-grade stainless HRC and CRC by another $120/t from August, while those for 430-grade stainless HRC and CRC have increased by $30/t on month, the official said.
Yusco's further hikes of its stainless list prices was in line with the market expectation, as the prices of major stainless steelmaking raw materials such as nickel pig iron (NPI), ferrochrome (FeCr) and ferromolybdenum (FeMo) moved higher, lifting the production costs of stainless mills, Mysteel Global learned.
For example, the price of 8-10% grade NPI in East China's Jiangsu province was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 1,180/mtu ($162/mtu) including delivery and the 13% VAT as of August 30, higher by Yuan 75/mtu from one week before.
In parallel, the devaluation of new Taiwan dollar also put more pressure on Taiwan's local stainless producers, as their costs of importing stainless steelmaking raw materials increased, Mysteel Global was told.
As for the stainless market in mainland China, the spot price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold-rolled coil in Wuxi in Jiangsu was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 16,000/t in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT as of August 30, growing by Yuan 350/t compared with the end of July, which also lent some support to Taiwan's stainless market.
Tang Eng Iron Works, another leading stainless producer headquartered in Kaohsiung, continued to adopt an 'individual' price policy for the business in September, and its stainless sales prices will be negotiated with customers individually, with reference to the list prices of other stainless producers and market changes in the coming term, Mysteel Global noted.
Source:Mysteel Global
