Market expectations are that the April rate of Taiwan’s China Steel Corp. (CSC) is clearly on an upward trend, and the increase may be larger. Recently, escalating conflicts in the Middle East triggered a surge in oil prices and ocean freight, coupled with a significant reduction in supply from upstream steel mills, providing a basis for price increases.

Regarding imported hot-rolled coil (HRC), China withdrew from the Taiwan market due to anti-dumping measures, while South Korea turned to the high-priced US market. Therefore, reduced import HRC and CSC's export increased, and low domestic market inventories are among the factors supporting the magnitude of CSC's price increase. However, most downstream manufacturers still believe that a price increase lacking actual demand may be unrealistic and unsubstantiated.