China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, will raise domestic prices for the third time this year as demand increases.
Prices will rise by an average of 8.61 percent in October and November, the Kaohsiung-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The company had earlier raised domestic prices for orders in July, last month and this month.
Recovering demand from manufacturers and builders is prompting steelmakers to raise prices and restart mills idled during the global recession. Steel prices in the US rose 10 percent last month. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, China’s largest steelmaker, said last month it’s running at full capacity.
“Steel demand will keep rising through the whole of next year,” said Ernest Chiang (蔣尚勳), who doesn’t own the stock among the US$61 million he manages for IBT Asset Management Co in Taipei (台灣工銀投信). “Market supply and demand is favorable for China Steel.”
Prices of hot-rolled coil, a benchmark product, for next month and November will rise by an average NT$1,672 (US$51) a tonne, the company said in the statement.
China Steel rose 2 percent to close at NT$30.20 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange before the announcement yesterday. The stock has climbed 36 percent this year, compared with a 55 percent gain in the TAIEX.
Domestic demand for steel will be helped by government spending to repair damage to homes, bridges and roads caused by Typhoon Morakot, Chiang said.
The Cabinet yesterday approved a four-year NT$120 billion special budget to reconstruct areas devastated by the typhoon.
The company will raise plate prices by an average NT$953 a tonne, bar and wire rods by NT$1,800 and cold-rolled steel by NT$1,994. It will raise electro-galvanized sheet prices by NT$2,000 a tonne, electrical sheets by NT$3,600 and hot-dipped zinc-galvanized sheets by NT$2,320. No percentage changes were given for the types of products in the statement.
China Steel restarted its No. 3 furnace a few days earlier than planned on Aug. 27. The plant was shut in April for regular repairs.
Steel output in China, Taiwan’s biggest overseas market, reached a record in July and prices have soared as much as 38 percent since the government announced a 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus package last November to revive the economy.
US Steel Corp, the largest US-based steelmaker by sales, restarted one of two Canadian blast furnaces to meet an increase in demand.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in