China Steel to keep prices unchanged

China Steel Corp  yesterday announced that it would keep domestic steel prices unchanged for deliveries next month to comply with changes in international markets and customer needs.

The decision to stay put following four consecutive months of price hikes came as the firm took customers’ inventory write-down expenses into account, the nation’s largest steelmaker said in a statement.

China Steel said that in the second quarter, it would only raise prices of steel plates used in vessels, and A36 and SS400 steel plates used in structural applications by NT$300 (US$9.5) per tonne, leaving the rest unchanged.

The firm reached the decision after considering several factors, including domestic downstream customers’ actual demand and order-taking schedule, and the steel market’s tepid recovery and confidence toward the economic outlook, it said.

China Steel expects steel demand to pick up after May and believes that potential US interest rate cuts starting from June would be a shot in the arm for the industry, it said.

“Cutting interest rates will promote investment, drive consumption and refresh the economy. It will be helpful for the real-estate market, and machinery equipment and vehicle sales, and it will also drive the demand for steel,” China Steel said.

The firm said the overall steel market remains stable in terms of supply-demand dynamics and is expected to show sequential improvement in the coming quarters.

On the other hand, global steel prices are expected to rise in the second quarter following consolidation in the first quarter, China Steel said.

Prices have shown signs of a turnaround, the firm said, citing announcements by US steelmakers Cleveland-Cliffs Inc and Nucor Corp on Thursday last week to raise hot-rolled steel prices by US$28 to US$44 per tonne, along with the 10th consecutive price increase next month for high-carbon hot-rolled steel coils by China’s Baowu Steel Group Ltd .

China Steel on Monday reported that consolidated revenue in the first two months of this year increased 5.91 percent year-on-year to NT$60.89 billion.

Shipments reached 1.93 million tonnes in the first two months, the company said, adding that it expects 2.7 million to 2.8 million tonnes of shipments in the first quarter and an even higher amount in the second quarter as the industry enters a peak season.