China’s Baosteel cuts Q4 prices as demand weakens
China’s Baoshan Iron and Steel has cut its fourth-quarter sales prices for cold-rolled steel products, the first cut in a year, as the demand outlook weakens in China’s auto and home appliance sectors.
Baosteel, the listed unit of China’s largest steel mill, lowered cold-rolled steel product prices by 300 yuan from the third quarter, while keeping its hot-rolled steel product prices unchanged, trade sources said on Monday.
An official in the office of Baosteel’s board had no comment, while a senior Baosteel official told Reuters on Friday that the company may not publish uniform steel product prices for the fourth quarter. The company did not announce prices for the third quarter.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSHA36534220080825
The decision to keep hot-rolled prices unchanged reflected high global steel prices relative to China’s and expectations of firm demand worldwide in the fourth quarter, analysts said.
“Baosteel’s pricing is within the market’s expectations. We have already seen weak demand for cold-rolled coil due to a slowdown in the auto and home appliance industries,” one trader said.
The price for cold-rolled steel, excluding value-added tax, is 6,496 yuan ($949.30) per tonne for September, while the price for hot-rolled steel is 5,742 yuan, traders said, citing offers from the company.
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