Taiwanese steelmaker CSC’s carbon steel sales volume fell to 803,315mt in April, down by 6.3pc from the prior year. In the January-April period, sales volume dropped to 3.29mn mt, down by 8.1pc from the prior period, according to the company’s preliminary results for April.
In April, CSC benefitted from the recovery in steel demand, while it passed on the increased raw material prices to end-users. Also a decline in sales volume contributed to a slightly higher operating income.
CSC’s April operating revenues rose to TWD36.9bn ($1.32bn), up by TWD11,108 from March, while consolidated income before tax rose by 9pc or up TWD532mn from March to TWD6.16bn on improved steel prices.
In the January-April period, operating revenues improved by 30pc from the prior year to TWD134.72bn. CSC’s consolidated income before tax in the period rose exponentially to TWD19.26bn compared to a loss of TWD 3.05bn in the prior year.
Steel prices drop
Last week, the steelmaker hiked domestic steel prices by $36-89/mt for June shipments amid a widening gap between domestic and international steel prices. On average, the company raised prices by 8 pc from the prior month. CSC’s HRC price for June domestic sales is up by TWD2,500/mt ($89.37/mt). But early this week, the Chinese government warned the steel industry for what it called ‘unreasonable’ steel prices leading to a drop in prices. On average prices have fallen by more than CNY500/mt this week for most steel products, according to local media.