China’s Baoshan Iron and Steel (Baosteel) expects prices for steel to correct from the current highs due to uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as slower economic growth in H2 2021. The producer plans a phased increase of silicon steel production by 1.5mn mt and non-oriented steel by 3.8mn mt. The former is used in assembling electric motors, generators and transformers.
In H2 2021, the company’s steel production rose by 17pc to 26.23mn mt over 22.43mn mt in the same period last year. Meanwhile, iron output stood at 22.74mn mt in the six-month period. Media reports noted that both hot-rolled coil and rebar hit all-time highs in May, up by 18pc and 26pc at this point in the year, compared with the last.
Baosteel reported a net profit of CNY15.1bn in H1 2021 ($2.33bn), which saw a 2.7-fold increase from H1 2020 while Q2 2021 profits rose to a quarterly record of CNY9.6bn, up 79pc from the year-ago quarter. The company credited good downstream demand in the Chinese economy for the jump in earnings.