China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) expects steel demand to increase on the back of governments around the world subsidizing infrastructure construction amid a stabilizing COVID-19 pandemic, CSC chairman Wong Chao-tung (翁朝棟) told an investors’ meeting yesterday.
“After getting through the hard times, I foresee at least one year, very possibly two years, of strong steel market,” Wong said.
Calling a dip in steel prices a “short respite for the market,” Wong said that it would likely bounce back early next year on the back of mild winter temperatures around the world allowing construction activity.
Photo: Lin Ching-hua, Taipei Times
Despite COVID-19 spikes in some regions and increased calls for carbon-neutral steel production, the company is looking forward to a “positive development” in the steel market on the back of higher commodity prices and continued strong worldwide demand, Wong said.
“Countries around the world, especially the US, are investing in infrastructure projects, leading to strong steel demand,” Wong said. “The whole world is fighting to boost the economy.”
Pressure to transition to more climate-friendly production methods would be offset by higher prices, he said.
“Nippon Steel predicted that carbon neutrality targets will increase the cost of steel by more than 10 percent,” Wong said. “The era of high-priced steel has arrived.”
CSC executive vice president Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said that recent softness in the steel market was due to logistics logjams and a lack of clarity in Chinese markets.
“The demand will likely be pushed into the first half of next year,” Hwang said. “The mid to long-term prospects of the steel market has not been affected.”
The World Steel Dynamics report predicted rising steel prices in the first half of next year amid rebounding demand in China, Hwang said.
However, the report forecasts the rebound to dissipate in the second half of the year, causing pieces to fall, Hwang added.
“It’s not certain that the prices of steel will fall. It will depend on what decarbonization policies we see from countries around the world, and also whether steel price will be supported by continued high commodity prices,” Hwang said.
“Iron ore prices shot up by more than 20 percent in the past three days, back to US$99.45 per tonne, and prices will likely stay above US$100 per tonne, while coking coal prices remain high at US$317 per tonne,” Hwang said. “Both commodities will lend strong support to steel prices.”
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is