Posted on 21 Dec 2023
China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's largest steel mill headquartered in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, has decided to lift list prices of its major carbon steel products further for local sales in the first quarter of 2024 in response to rising production costs, according to the company's latest release on its website.
Iron ore prices have increased to this year's high of $135-140/tonne, the company said, and prices of metallurgical coal have also climbed steadily to $330-340/t, negatively impacting its steelmaking costs with the higher ocean freight rates.
Its decision to hike its list prices also suggests that CSC is confident about the local steel market for the foreseeable future, Mysteel Global notes. The world economy has shown signs of stabilizing and global inflation has gradually cooled, both of which will help speed the recovery in Taiwan's economy, CSC said.
According to the latest local-government forecast, Taiwan's economic growth is expected to reach 3.35% in 2024, much higher than the estimate of 1.42% for this year, the release showed.
Besides, global steel demand is expected to recover with the stimulus policies of many countries and regions boosting economic growth and expanding consumption, CSC said in the release.
The company added that global auto production and sales have performed well this year, and the world's total automobile output may increase by 4% on year to 90.2 million units, it said quoting data from J.D. Power, a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and analytics.
However, steel supply has been constrained by output reductions in many regions such as mainland China, the United States and parts of Europe. In parallel, steel prices in the global market have increased significantly, and the export prices being secured by Chinese steelmakers have strengthened too, driving up steel prices in the Asian market, according to the release.
Leading steelmakers including several in China are also hiking their steel list prices for January sales. For example, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, the listed-arm of the world's largest steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, has decided to raise its list prices of carbon steel hot-rolled coil by Yuan 200/tonne ($28/t) for local sales in January, as reported.
CSC's price adjustments of selected products for Jan and Q1 sales
Product | Price Change (TWD/t) | Notes |
Heavy plate (for shipbuilding) | 800 | Q-o-Q |
Bar & Wire rod | 800 | Q-o-Q |
Hot-rolled coil | 500 | M-o-M |
Cold-rolled coil | 500 | M-o-M |
Electrolytic galvanized coil (fingerprint resistant/construction) | 500 | M-o-M |
Electrical steel coil | 500 | M-o-M |
Hot-dipped galvanized coil (for white goods, computers etc.) | 500 | M-o-M |
Source: CSC
Source:Mysteel Global
