After Wugang and Angang raised their steel prices for May BaoSteel announced its pricing policy for May this afternoon. Except for HRC, for which price is unchanged, BaoSteel has raised other steel products prices by CNY 200 per tonne to CNY 600 per tonne.

According to BaoSteel pricing policy price of HRC is kept still and CR price only rise by CNY 200 per tonne. Moreover plate price rise by CNY 500 per tonne and silicon steel price is increased by CNY 600 per tonne. Comparing to that of Wugang and Angang BaoSteel price rise is not significant lower than the previous market expectation.

Back in April BaoSteel chose to keep its steel prices unchanged in general while most other large steel mills such as Angang and Wugang raised their steel prices by about CNY 200 per tonne to CNY 600 per tonne. Similarly they continue to increase their steel prices for May by about CNY 100 per tonne to CNY 500 per tonne. Therefore some steel mills’ CR price has surpassed that of BaoSteel.

Insiders said that the slight price hike by BaoSteel is related to the market situation and less preorders of some steel varieties. It also reflects BaoSteel cautious judgment about the steel market in the future.