A survey of 24 Chinese steel mills reveals that most expect steel prices to rise this year in spite of faultering domestic demand and exports.
According to the survey by Steel Business Briefing, a majority of the mills expect average steel prices to rise, even though half of them expect domestic steel demand to fall and two-thirds expect exports to decline.
Baosteel, China's largest steelmaker, has already decided to raise product prices by 6 to 10 percent from February after the Chinese government announced it would likely spend 10 to 15 billion yuan to establish a reserve of 3 to 5 million tons late last December.
Many steelmakers have released their prediction for their 2008 annuan reports. Most of them are predicting net profits will drop by more than 50 percent. Profits at Anshan Steel are expected to drop 55 percent, and Liuzhou Steel 98 percent.
Source: Proactive Investor
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