Lower Order Receiving of Taiwanese Fastener Companies Decreases CSC’s Expected Wire Rod Production & Sales

Taiwanese steel companies pointed out that in the first 3 quarters of 2015, the quarterly expected production & sales of CSC remained at around 3.05 million tons (60% for domestic sales and 40% for export). Although the export demand is difficult to be estimated due to various factors, the domestic sales can be estimated in advance that it will meet the original expectations, as CSC keeps maintaining close communication and relationship with downstream customers, making it able to perceive and analyze the market trends.

Before CSC announced the prices for Q4, it had found that most of the market demands for various steel products were low and orders from its customers might have to be adjusted downward. As a result, it reduced the expected quarterly production and sales from around 3.05 million tons to 2.8 million tons (down approx. 7-8% from the previous quarter). A downstream customer said that wire rods for fasteners would be the major category being greatly influenced.

According to a corporation, the global automotive sales in the 2nd half of 2015 may drop and the demand for automotive fasteners will also become lower than before. For example, the publicly traded leading automotive fastener suppliers such as Boltun and San Shing may face pressure from lower demands. On the other hand, the order for small screws under the continuous competition with China may be also lower than expected. By and large, the order for CSC’s wire rods will drop around 3% from the last quarter and the total weight will be 15 thousand to 20 thousand tons.