Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (Baosteel), a listed company of China Baowu Iron and Steel Group, announced on December 9 that it would substantially increase the catalog price of carbon steel hot rolled coil (HRC) by 400 yuan/ton ($61/t), Mysteel Global pointed out, For domestic sales in January, this matched the overall strengthening of domestic and foreign hot rolled coil prices.
According to Chinese market sources, Baoshan Iron & Steel’s latest pricing decision is based on the recent strong hot-rolled coil spot prices and recent market optimism. This is the second consecutive month that the Shanghai-based company’s hot-rolled coil prices have increased. The sales volume in December is increased by RMB 100/ton and then increased.
“China’s domestic demand for cold-rolled products has been strong, so the demand for cold-rolled raw materials and hot-rolled coils is also strong,” a steel trader in southern China added. “Overseas demand is also recovering, but supply has not caught up. So overseas HRC prices have been soaring.”
In addition, end-users in the domestic market are actively ordering, and traders and steel mills have low HRC stocks, prompting Chinese steel prices to have confidence in raising catalog prices, according to him.
As of December 9, the price of China’s Q235 4.75mm hot-rolled coil rose by 305 yuan/ton to 4,340 yuan/ton (including 13% value-added tax) from the previous month, setting a new high since September 21, 2018. As of December 3, A survey by Mysteel, a commercial inventory of hot rolled coils, showed that warehouses in 33 cities in China decreased by 522,600 tons from the previous month to 2.2 million tons, but still increased by 422,200 tons from last year.
The survey showed that as of December 2, the inventory of the 37 steel mills under investigation decreased by 91,400 tons to 935,500 tons per week, or only an increase of 133,700 tons year-on-year.
“In the short term, as the government promotes the consumption of related products such as automobiles, China’s hot-rolled coil demand may remain strong, and the global market may be in short supply for a period of time,” said the relevant person in charge of the steel mill. North China said.
Baosteel raised the prices of key products sold in January. Except for hot rolled coil prices, non-oriented electrical steel prices were raised by 800 yuan/ton, and hot-dip galvanized and cold-galvanized steel prices were raised by 500 yuan/ton. -Rolled coil and electrolytic galvanized steel, 300-600 yuan/ton for oriented electrical steel, 400 yuan/ton for color-coated sheet, galvanized and pickled oil coil, 300 yuan/ton for steel plate and profile, and its pricing policy description. Source: My Steel