After Vietnam’s Hoa Phat and Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS) kept the prices flat for August, China’s Baosteel finished the flat price patterns from May to July.
Baosteel announced its price for August yesterday (July 9) and decided to raise its prices for several products, including hot-rolled steel and cold-rolled steel coils, by CNY 100 per ton (about US$14/ton) and maintained the price of non-oriented electrical steel.
Currently, China’s steel mills have been implemented to cut production, and the prices have stopped falling. Therefore, Baosteel’s new price is reasonable.
However, the US/China trade war is unclear, and demand remains weak. Many market participants believe that it still needs a longer time to observe the future demand.