Future steel market to develop in positive direction

Following Hoa Phat Steel's price-up, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel has also raised its offers, including hot-rolled coil (HRC) and carbon wire. In addition, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade recently announced temporary anti-circumvention measures against Chinese HRC, imposing a 27.83% anti-dumping duty on coils with thicknesses of 1.2mm to 25.4 mm and widths exceeding 1,880 mm.

On the other hand, the US government declared a tariff optimization plan for steel and aluminum derivatives products, primarily aimed at reducing costs for downstream manufacturers rather than a complete easing of restrictions on raw materials. The Section 232 tariffs remain at 50%; however, import tariffs on related derivative products have been reduced from 50% to 25%, which will generally benefit the market.

More importantly, the Chinese government is guiding capacity control and implementing reasonable pricing and sales measures, with the core objective of reducing excess capacity. Considering these events, market participants indicate that China's crude steel production has decreased this year, and trade barriers imposed by many countries are squeezing steel mills' production. Even with weak demand, coupled with the Middle East conflict pushing up raw material prices, the steel market will continue to develop in a positive direction.

Source:Yieh