Angang Steel Co (Ansteel), the Shenzhen-listed arm of China's second-largest steelmaker Ansteel Iron & Steel Group, has decided to hold the list prices of its carbon steel hot-rolled coils (HRC) steady for domestic sales in July, according to the company's latest announcement on June 11. The rollover for hot coils is Ansteel’s first since March, the company having raised its HRC list prices by a total of Yuan 500/tonne ($74/t) between March and June.
Two days earlier, Baosteel, the listed arm of the world's top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, had also declared it was keeping the list prices of its major steel flats, including HRC, unchanged for domestic sales in July, as Mysteel Global has reported.
Although rising domestic prices for coking coal and metallurgical coke are tempting steelmakers to raise their steel prices, increasing HRC output and mounting inventories of coils at traders' yards have caused the mills to opt for caution and keep list prices stable. Mysteel Global noted. On June 4, the 194 commercial warehouses nationwide that Mysteel monitors were nursing 4.59 million tonnes of HRC, lower by just 5,000 tonnes or 0.1% on week and up by a huge 28% on year, as reported.
Meanwhile, Bengang Steel Plates Co, the Shenzhen-listed arm of Bengang Group and another leading flat-steel producer based in Liaoning, is also holding its HRC list prices for July sales stable, it announced on Thursday.
But not all major makers are hesitating. On June 1, Jiangsu-based Shagang Group in East China, the country's largest privately owned steel company and operators of both blast furnaces and electric arc furnaces, had announced it was raising prices for all hot-rolled coil products for current month sales by Yuan 100/t and those of its plates by Yuan 150/t, as reported.
As a result, the mill's prices for Q235 5.5*1500mm and SPHC 4.0*1250mm hot-rolled coils are at Yuan 3,700/t and Yuan 3,710/t respectively this month, both including the 13% VAT.
The EXW prices for Baosteel SS400 3*1500 mm HRC stood at Yuan 4,775/t ($706/t) in June, Mysteel learned. While the list prices for Ansteel Q235B 4.75mm*1500 mm HRC were at Yuan 4,400/t in May, according to Ansteel.
Source:Mysteel Global