China: Ansteel lifts HRC list price by $14/t for Nov sales

Ansteel Iron & Steel Group (Ansteel), the country's second-largest steel producer headquartered in Northeast China's Liaoning province, has decided to lift its list price of flat steel by Yuan 100/tonne ($13.9/t) for November sales, Mysteel Global learned.

With the new pricing policy, Ansteel will lift its Q235B 3.5-15.99mm HRC and 1.0mm cold-rolled coil for November delivery by Yuan 100/t on month. As usual, Ansteel doesn't reveal the actual list prices in its monthly pricing policy, but only the margin of price adjustment, Mysteel Global understands.

Ansteel's price decision was in contrast to that of Baoshan Iron & Steel, the listed arm of China's largest steelmaker, Baowu Steel Group, which had opted to roll over its HRC list prices for November sales, Mysteel Global noted.

China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,036/t including the 13% VAT as of October 11, edging down by Yuan 27/t from September 13.

According to a Shanghai-based analyst, Ansteel is receiving more orders so far this month, as suggested by the fact that the mill has resumed normal production in October after conducting maintenance stoppages in September.

Besides, Ansteel had suffered losses for producing finished steel over the past few months, so the latest price increment is seen as a way for the mill to avoid further losses, she noted.

Moreover, the mill's steel production costs may increase further with higher raw material prices - many coking plants across the country are expected to hike their offering prices for merchant coke as most of them are observing production curbs to ensure workplace safety with the convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing from October 16, the analyst added.

Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.