Baosteel, a subsidiary of China’s largest steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, has raised domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices for March sales by 100 yuan/t ($14/t). This is reported by SteelMint.
For sales in February, prices for these products remained unchanged.
In addition, the company’s prices for heavy plates increased by 100 yuan/t compared to the previous month.
The company’s prices rose amid increased supply from competitors, such as Japan’s Tokyo steel. However, hot-rolled coil futures on the Shanghai Stock Exchange remained volatile as China’s Lunar New Year approached.
Baosteel does not disclose the actual prices of its individual products in its monthly pricing policy, only announcing the amount of the adjustment.
According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), steel prices in China will remain in a limited range in the short term due to weakness in both supply and demand. The local steel market is in its traditional winter off-season.
Global hot-rolled coil prices have risen in major markets since the beginning of 2024. In Europe, quotes were supported by a low supply of locally produced products and the exhaustion of import quotas. In the US, a similar trend was observed, but supply still exceeded demand, which restrained price growth. In the Chinese market, prices have remained stable since mid-December last year.
As GMK Center reported earlier, China increased its rolled steel output by 5.2% y/y to 1.36 billion tons in 2023. In December, rolled steel production increased by 1.5% y/y – to 108.5 million tons.
In April 2024, Ukrainian steel enterprises increased rolled steel production by 19.6% compared to the…
Chinese steelmaker Wuyang Iron and Steel, a subsidiary of HBIS Group, has placed an order…
In January-February 2024, EU steel companies reduced steel exports (rolled products and semi-finished products) to…
Austrian steelmakers increased steel production by 19.1% in March 2024 compared to February this year,…
Since the beginning of 2024, Kametstal has shipped almost 160 thousand tons of products produced…
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has identified the first list of low-carbon demonstration…