Posted on 18 Oct 2024
China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's largest steel mill, has decided to raise the list prices of its major carbon steel products for local sales in November to partly reflect the recovery in the global steel market, according to the company's latest release on its website.
The release showed that CSC has lifted the list price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) by TWD 900-1,200/tonne ($28-37/t) on month for November sales, and that of cold-rolled coil (CRC) by TWD 700/t from the prior month.
The decision to increase partly reflects the improved macro-environment worldwide as major economies have already launched some monetary easing policies, CSC said. The US Federal Reserve had started to cut interest rates in September, and the central government in China had also unveiled a series of economic stimulus measures last month, it noted.
The latest forecast of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released in late September showed that the global economy may grow by 3.2% in 2024, and that growth in 2025 should stay at the same percentage, as reported.
For September, China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing industry had recovered to 49.8, up 0.7 point on month and approaching the threshold of 50, CSC said quoting data from of the National Bureau of Statistics.
Kaohsiung-based CSC said that these measures had boosted market confidence, driving up the prices of steelmaking raw materials. For example, prices of iron ore have recovered to $100-110/t, and those of coal have exceeded $200/t, lifting the cost of steel production.
Global steel demand may recover in 2025, with the newly released estimate of the World Steel Association (WSA) saying that steel demand worldwide will bounce back by 1.2% on year to 1.77 billion tonnes.
As for the steel market in Taiwan, steel consumption from the automobile sector remains at a relatively high level. For the first three quarters of this year, Taiwan's auto output totalled 344,000 units, only down 1.6% on year. Also, as the fourth quarter is traditionally a peak season for steel consumption in Taiwan, this may lend some support to steel prices, CSC predicted in the release.
However, global steel supply has been shrinking this year, with the total crude steel output among the 71 countries surveyed by the WSA slipping by 1.5% on year to 1.25 billion tonnes over January-August, the release showed, while production in China for August alone had dropped by 10.4% on year to 77.9 million tonnes.
Finished steel prices in many regions and countries have rebounded recently, CSC observed, pointing out that the prices of hot-rolled coil in the Chinese mainland have increased by more than Yuan 600/tonne ($84/t) since the start of September.
Major global steelmakers have also raised their steel list prices for November sales. For example, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, the listed arm of the world's top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, has decided to hike the list prices of its carbon steel HRC by a large Yuan 500/t for domestic sales in November, as Mysteel Global reported.
CSC's price adjustments of selected products for November sales.
Product | Price Change (TWD/t) | Notes |
Hot-rolled coil | 900-1,200 | M-o-M |
Cold-rolled coil | 700 | M-o-M |
Electrolytic galvanized coil (construction) | 700 | M-o-M |
Electrical steel coil | 700 | M-o-M |
Hot-dipped galvanized coil (for white goods, computers etc.) | 700 | M-o-M |
Source: CSC
Source:Kallanish
