Baosteel's ex-factory price is generally raised in October, large steel companies will successively adjust prices

Since September, the entire steel industry in China has been under pressure from energy-saving and emission-reduction policies, and there has been continuous news of power cuts and production cuts. Affected by this, steel prices continued to rise. In order to reduce emissions, the delivery price announced by Baosteel yesterday was generally raised by 150-300 yuan/ton. Industry analysts predict that, next, other steel mills will also raise prices one after another, and the dominant steel mills will once again make concerted efforts to raise prices and will form a certain support for the market. In the latter stage, the steel market is still on the upside.

It is understood that the pricing of Baosteel's main carbon steel products in October is: the price of hot-rolled products is increased by 150-300 yuan on the basis of September prices; acid products are generally raised by 260 yuan; ordinary cold-rolled products are raised by 110-200 yuan; Galvanized, galvanized and electro-galvanized products are raised by RMB 100-350. The price of individual specifications remains unchanged. Non-oriented electrical steel is increased by RMB 350-380, while the price of oriented electrical steel remains unchanged; thick plate products It is generally raised by 150 yuan.

Union Metals analyst Hu Yanping analyzed the reasons for Baosteel's price increase and said that energy saving and emission reduction is definitely an important reason for Baosteel's price increase. It is reported that in September, the steel industry in some provinces and cities set off production storms, of which Hebei is the most obvious. A 2500 cubic meter blast furnace of Ningbo Iron & Steel, a subsidiary of Baosteel Group, has also been forced to limit production. Affected by this, crude steel production will continue its downward trend since mid-to-late August, and absolute reductions and declines will increase significantly. According to the calculation of the United Metals, China's crude steel production in September will be more than 5 million tons less than the monthly average output of the previous eight months, and daily production will be reduced to less than 1.6 million tons, and it is expected to reach the lowest level in the year.

“At present, although the reduction in output caused by emission reductions has not yet been clearly demonstrated, the expectations for supply reduction and supply reduction support for steel prices have been enhanced. Baosteel’s price increase has also responded to this mentality.” Hu Yanping said. Secondly, due to factors such as high cost, key large and medium-sized steel companies have poor profitability in the third quarter. In this context, the price increase of major steel companies, including Baosteel, is also required to improve its unfavorable earnings performance in the third quarter.

It is also known that September is the traditional peak season for the steel industry, and the current plans for the major home appliances and automobile manufacturers are all increasing. “As far as Baosteel is concerned, its order book in October is also quite good. This also makes Baosteel price increases.” An industry source told reporters.

Based on the comprehensive analysis, despite the recent weakness in the steel market, the market still has some momentum or momentum. Hu Yanping predicted that from the current situation, the supply and demand relationship is expected to improve with the implementation of emission reductions, which will provide strong support for the operation of the steel market in the later period. The favorable factors affecting the operation of the steel market over a period of time will prevail slightly, and the overall steel market will continue to fluctuate upwards.

However, some analysts pointed out that from the perspective of Baosteel's “relative restraint”, its judgments and views on the market outlook are “optimistic factors, but there are also unoptimistic considerations”. In addition, the ore price in the fourth quarter will have a decline of about 10%. The cost pressure will have some looseness, and it will not support the sharp increase in steel prices.