Taiwan-based China Steel’s (CSC) carbon steel sales in December fell to 863,880mt, down by 2.1pc from 882,824mt in December 2019 and down by 2.4pc from November, according to the company’s preliminary results. Accumulated sales (Jan-Dec) stood at 10.142mn mt, a marginal decline of a percent from the prior-year period. In December, around 62pc of CSC’s sales were in the domestic market while in Jan-Dec period, sales in the domestic market accounted for 66pc. Share of sales in the domestic market declined from 66pc in November last month.
Demand for finished steel in Taiwan has slowed amid higher steel prices impacting budgets of construction projects. In December, the steelmakers consolidated income before income tax was TWD2.54mn, up by 8pc from TWD2.35mn November.
For the full year, CSC’s consolidated income before income tax fell by 78pc to TWD2.768mn from 12.80mn from a year ago.
Earlier, on Jan 13, CSC hiked finished steel prices for domestic February deliveries by TWD2,200-3000/mt ($79-107/mt), which is 9.5pc higher than early January prices. The company cited increase in raw material price and an uptrend in global steel prices as a rationale for the price hike.
($1= TWD28.25)