Taiwan's CSC lifts steel list prices for Feb sales

China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's largest steel mill headquartered in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, has decided to raise list prices of its major steel products for local sales in February to reflect the upward trend in the global steel market, according to the company's latest release on January 13.

Both supply and demand sides of the global steel market have been boosted by steel production reductions worldwide and the relaxation of COVID restrictions in China, CSC observed in a statement.

On the one hand, the contraction of steel supplies worldwide has continued to expand and steel end-users are expected to start replenishment after the Lunar New Year break later this month, the integrated mill said. Leading steel mills around the world are publicising the status their production reductions, with 40% of Europe's overall crude steel capacity already idled for example, according to CSC.

On the other hand, steel demand was also expected to witness a further recovery after the Spring Festival holiday this month, with China's relaxation of COVID restrictions and Beijing's tabling of a series of economic support measures, such as policies aimed at buoying the real estate sector.

In parallel, concerns about the shortage of integrated circuits for the global automobile industry have recently eased, accelerating the recovery of vehicle manufacturing worldwide and lifting steel consumption. CSC quotes data from S&P Global Mobility, a leading US-based provider of automotive data, showing that new car sales globally would increase by 5.6% to reach 83.6 million units in 2023.

In addition, rising prices of steelmaking raw materials have led to higher steelmaking costs among mills, which in turn have lent some support to steel prices, according to CSC, noting that iron ore prices are currently above $120/tonne and the coking coal price exceeds $300/t.

Major steelmakers have raised their list prices accordingly and global steel prices will maintain their upward momentum, CSC pointed out. Last week, China Baowu Steel Group, the world's largest steelmaker, has decided to add Yuan 50-100/t ($7.5-14.9/t) to its list prices of carbon steel hot-rolled coil for domestic sales in February, as Mysteel Global reported.

The eased pressure from global inflation led the steel giant in Taiwan to choose to raise list prices of its major steel products as global steel-market sentiment improved. However, even though it has lifted list prices, CSC has tempered the size of the increases to help its customers achieve better sales of their completed products, the statement explained.

Written by Carly Chen, chenziyi@mysteel.com

Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com

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