Chinese steelmaker Baoshan Iron and Steel, also known aa Baosteel, has decided to raise prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) by CNY400/mt ($61/mt) for May deliveries. The company announced price hike driven by high raw materials prices and bullish demand. Chinese exports remained limited over the uncertainty about export rebate cuts.
The steelmaker had earlier raised HRC prices by CNY300/mt ($45/mt) for April shipments. In just two months, prices rose by CNY700/mt ($106/mt).
Baosteel also raised steel plates prices by CNY500/mt ($76/mt) for May shipments. Prices for HRC pickled and cold-rolled steel sheets were also raised by CNY300/mt and CNY150/mt ($23/mt), respectively.
The steel mill held its prices of hot-dip and electro-galvanized steel sheets unchanged. Non-oriented electrical steel sheets of high grades raised by CNY300/mt, according to the company’s retail listed prices.
Many other leading blast furnace steel mills are likely to follow suit. Baosteel’s HRC prices set the benchmark for Asian HRC producers like Posco and Hyundai in South Korea, Formosa in Vietnam, and JSW and Tata Steel in India.
In long steel, rebar and wire rod prices were raised by CNY100-300/mt. Steel pipes and tubes’ prices were raised by CNY500/mt and UO pipes and seamless steel pipes prices rose by CNY550/mt ($83/mt) and CNY500/mt, respectively.
($1=CNY6.53/mt)