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Baosteel raises Feb steels prices by 100~300 yuan/t 

China's(cnmining) top steel maker Baosteel Group, the parent company of Shanghai-listed Baosteel (600019.SH), recently raised the February steels prices by 100 yuan/ton to 300 yuan/ton.

Specifically, prices of hot-rolled products are up by 100~200 yuan per ton, cold-rolled by 300 yuan per ton, galvanized and hot zinc-plating products by 340 yuan and 250 yuan per ton respectively, and color coated products by 450 yuan per ton.

Other large steel enterprises such as Angang (000898.SZ) are also raising steel prices by a small margin.

This round of price hike is based on the recovering confidence on domestic steel market, and the steel plants are aiming to reduce losses with this move, said Xu Xiangchun, director of MySteel.com.

Xu estimated the factory prices, although having increased, are still lower than costs, due to the previous heavy expenses on inventories of raw materials.

Xu also warned the upward trend will probably come to an end in the next February or March, but it is still hard to predict the follow-up market demand. Usually, the first quarter is a slack time for the steel industry.

Experts expect most Chinese steel plants to suffer from financial deficit in the fourth quarter, except those with products of core competitiveness, such as Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp. and Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipe Co., Ltd.