November 21, 2008

CSC hikes Q2 domestic base prices by 19%

It is reported that Taiwan’s China Steel Corp has decided to raise domestic basic prices of its steel products by an average of 19% for the Q2 to June 2008.

China Steel said the prices of steel plates and electrical coils will be both raised by TWD 4,500 per tonne, while bar and wire rod products will see a TWD 4,550 per tonne increase. Prices of hot rolled and cold rolled steel will be raised by TWD 4,000 per tonne, steel plates by TWD 4,500 per tonne, hot dip galvanized coil prices will be raised by TWD 3,800 per tonne and electro galvanized coil prices by TWD 3,700 per tonne.

CSC said that despite a nearly 40% rise in production costs due to higher raw materials prices, it opted for a moderate price increase so as not to hurt downstream players.

Mr LM Chung an executive vice president China Steel said "The price of iron ore and coal have been jumping at a scary pace. We could have raised the product prices more this time, but we have to take our downstream clients' competitiveness into account. He said we will be cautiously watching the directions of raw material prices to help determine if we'll raise product prices further."

China Steel has an annual capacity of 11 million tonnes.