Shagang Group (Shagang), China's largest electric-arc-furnace steelmaker, has decided to maintain its long-product list prices for sales over September 1-10 from the last eleven days of August, according to the company's latest pricing announcement issued on September 1.
The Zhangjiagang-based steel group updates its list prices for long products such as rebars three times a month to better reflect market dynamics, as reported.
With its latest pricing policy, Shagang continues to keep its price for HRB400 16-20mm rebar at Yuan 3,250/tonne ($484/t), that for HPB300 6-10mm wire rods at Yuan 3,190/t, and that for HRB400 8-10mm bar-in-coil remains at Yuan 3,280/t, according to its announcement. All prices are EXW and include the 13% VAT.
Shagang never comments on its pricing decisions, but a Shanghai-based analyst pointed out that the steel giant seems to be waiting for clearer signs of a recovery in actual steel consumption. The sharp price rally in late August and the pickup in spot trading volume can be attributed more to speculative buying than to improved demand, she said.
Domestic prices of steel longs jumped significantly in late August, mainly fueled by surging metallurgical coke prices after three rounds of price increases were agreed by steelmakers in the last eleven days of the month, as Mysteel Global reported.
Specifically, the spot price of Shagang-brand HRB400E 20mm rebar in Shanghai reached Yuan 3,180/t on August 31, soaring by Yuan 120/t from August 20, according to Mysteel's assessment.
The rise in construction steel prices also encouraged many end-users to replenish long steel stocks. Over August 21-31, the daily tonnage of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil traded among the 237 trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 97,416 tonnes/day, jumping by 10.1% or 8,959 t/d from the average level during mid-August.
Following Shagang, Zenith Steel, another leading steelmaker based in East China's Jiangsu province, announced it was raising its list prices for long steel items by Yuan 150/t for early-September sales, Mysteel Global learned.
Meanwhile, Shagang has also kept its flat product prices unchanged for September sales, according to its statement on the same day. As a result, the mill's prices for Q235 5.5*1500mm and SPHC 4.0*1250mm hot-rolled coils are still at Yuan 3,550/t and Yuan 3,560/t respectively this month, both including the 13% VAT.
Source:Mysteel Global
