Monthly Change of Coal Mine Price Shakes Steel Market

2011-07-11

The global major coal mine manufacturers attempt to change from quarterly price to monthly price started from July. The decision causes full resistance from Asian steel mills, including CSC. From the steel mills’ perspective, once changing into monthly price, steel market price and production and marketing will be more chaotic, which will seriously affect steel market. At this stage, the coal mine manufacturers are negotiating with the steel mills led by Japan.                                 According to past experiences, if a conclusion is drawn, CSC and South Korean steel mills can only observe the outcome of the negotiation. The industry believes that changes of the international steel price do not comform to rises and falls of raw material market prices. What the steel industry needs is the stable cost structure. Once raw material price changes monthly, steel cost and price are harder to control.