Posted on 26 Jun 2026
The volume of carbon steel products sold by China Steel Corp (CSC), Taiwan's top integrated steel producer, declined in May after the continuous recovery over the prior two months, with the total tonnage down 22,093 tonnes or 3.2% on month to reach 673,561 tonnes, according to the company's latest release on its website.
The on-month decrease suggested weakening steel demand from end-users, as frequent rainfall during the wet season disrupted outdoor construction activities on the island, Mysteel Global learned.
Despite the decline in carbon steel sales, the Kaohsiung-based mill reported a substantial rise in its pre-tax profit in May, mainly thanks to the increase in unit gross profit of steel sales, supported by higher prices. Last month, CSC's pre-tax profit came in at TWD 1.35 billion ($42.5 million), more than doubling from TWD 485 million in April, the release showed.
For the first five months of this year, the integrated mill's total carbon steel sales reached 3.21 million tonnes, rising by 30,740 tonnes or 1% on year, and the cumulative pre-tax profit it raked in notched TWD 872.7 million, in sharp contrast to the TWD 10.46 million recorded in the same period last year, according to the release.
On the macro front, the company noted that ongoing geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East may continue to weigh on global economic growth. The latest Economic Outlook report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development showed that global economic growth is projected to slow to 2.8% in 2026 as against the rise of 3.4% in 2025, as Mysteel Global reported.
Global steel prices have entered a consolidation phase at elevated levels after the earlier rally, and those in certain regional markets have diverged recently, CSC said in the release.
For local sales in July, CSC has decided to trim its list prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) by TWD 300/t each to partly reflect the changes in global steel prices, ending the continuous hikes since the start of this year, as Mysteel Global reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
