China: Ansteel lifts HRC list price by $29/t for March 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 200/tonne ($29.1/t) for March 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 March delivery by Yuan 200/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 the same as that of Baoshan Iron& Steel, the listed arm of China's largest steelmaker Baowu Steel Group, which had chosen to lift its HRC list prices by Yuan 200/t for March sales, Mysteel Global noted.

China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,257/t including the 13% VAT as of February 16, up by Yuan 39/t from January 16.

Accounting for Ansteel's hike of list prices were the central and local governments' a series of stimulus policies on infrastructure projects, which boosted the mill's sentiment, a Shanghai-based analyst said.

Besides, the mill still suffered losses when producing most of its finished steel products, giving it another reason to lift its list prices, she added.

Ansteel also gained confidence to raise the prices from the sufficient orders it secured every month, she commented.

Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

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