Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the listed arm of the world's top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, is keeping the list prices of its carbon steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) unchanged for domestic sales in February, according to the company's latest pricing announcement issued on January 6. Prior to this, Baosteel had held the prices steady for January sales, as reported.
In February, as market participants return from the eight-day long Chinese New Year holiday (January 28-February 4), restocking demand is expected to support Baosteel's order volumes, a Shanghai-based market analyst believed. This could be the main reason behind the steel giant's confidence in maintaining its prices, he suggested.
On the other hand, a rise in HRC output, fueled by the mills' relatively healthy profit margins, is a strong possibility and would add pressure to the flat steel market, he pointed out, limiting Baosteel's incentive to raise its prices.
Baosteel does not disclose the actual list prices of its products in its monthly pricing policies and usually gives just the margin of price adjustment, Mysteel Global notes.
However, Shagang Group (Shagang), China's largest privately-owned producer headquartered in Zhangjiagang in East China's Jiangsu province, does at the start of each month.
Earlier on January 1, Shagang clipped Yuan 150/tonne ($20.5/t) off its HRC prices for January sales, with its Q235 HRC listed at Yuan 3,650/t and SPHC HRC at Yuan 3,660/t.
Source:Mysteel Global
