Posted on 11 Dec 2025
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baosteel), the listed arm of the world's top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group, is raising the list prices of its carbon steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) for domestic sales in January by Yuan 100/t ($14/t), according to the company's latest pricing announcement issued on December 9.
The January increase will be Baosteel's first for HRC list prices for local sales since September, Mysteel Global notes. A Shanghai-based analyst attributed the mill's decision to lift prices to the production cuts mills are making to tighten supply, and the domestic steel market's strong expectation of supportive policies being announced in the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing this month.
HRC output has been declining over the past two months, despite a few upward blips, and production is likely to fall further as more steelmakers idle hot strip mills for overhauls during the winter off-season, he pointed out.
Over November 27-December 3, HRC output among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel stood at 3.14 million tonnes, down by 1.5% or 47,000 tonnes on week.
On the other hand, even though end-user demand is weakening, some sectors such as construction machinery have shown some resilience, with orders still able to keep steel mills busy for a short period of time, the analyst added.
Consequently, HRC supply-demand fundamentals have come closer into balance recently and this, coupled with the industry's hopes for good news emerging from the Politburo's macro-economic meeting, has given the flat steel market a lift and prompted the steelmaker to raise its HRC list prices – albeit modestly, he noted.
However, the analyst also expressed some concerns, pointing out that HRC inventories at steel mills and commercial warehouses remain relatively elevated and are placing a protracted risk on the flat steel's prices. He argued that significant production cuts are really the only solution to achieve a sustained recovery in HRC prices.
On December 9, Mysteel assessed China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC at Yuan 3,297/t, down by Yuan 10/t or 0.3% on month and dropping below the Yuan 3,300/t threshold once again.
Meanwhile, Shagang Group, China's largest privately-owned producer headquartered in Zhangjiagang in East China's Jiangsu province, is taking a cautious approach to hot coil market trends for this month, the company having earlier announced on December 1 that it would revise the list price of its Q235 5.5*1500mm HRC lower by Yuan 150/t to Yuan 3,500/t for December sales. Shagang also reduced its price for SPHC 4*1250mm HRC by the same Yuan 150/t on month to Yuan 3,510/t for sales this month.
Market participants expect to have to wait until around January 2 to learn what the Jiangsu mill plans for its HRC prices for next month.
Source:Mysteel Global
