According to market participants, China Steel Corporation (CSC), the largest carbon steel manufacturer in Taiwan, was highly expected to raise its hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices for May.

There are four reasons for the expected price hike for CSC.

First, CSC noted that its prices to distributors were almost lower than the cost of raw materials, such as steel billet from Russia. If CSC chooses not to raise its prices this time, the future gap will be bigger and harder to make up.

Second, after Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS) sharply hiked its HRC price by US$145/ton on April 12, the current CSC price is behind the global steel prices.

Third, the Asian HRC price is now standing at a level of more than US$900/ton CFR, and the HRC import price is currently up to US$1,000/ton CFR. Therefore, CSC’s price increase just followed the international price hike.

Last, high steel prices are a new trend in the global steel market, according to Chaodong Weng, chairman of CSC. There is no room for the price drop. Not only Europe and the US but also Asian countries hiked their steel prices.

Moreover, the demand for steel has been boosted by the global economic recovery, coupled with higher production costs driven by carbon neutrality, carbon border taxes, carbon tariffs, and so on, high steel prices must be more acceptable in the global steel market.