Mixed signals

摘要

Since the proliferation of US anti-dumping actions, Taiwan and China have been the other two markets with Korea constituting top three export destinations for Japanese steel. News from Taiwan is mixed. GDP growth is expected to be slower, due to falling exports of electronic and IT hardware to the USA but the general good health of the internal economy is expected to maintain an expansion rate of 5.5-6 percent. Steel consumption is, however, more likely to decline than rise, except in the case of basic constructional steel products, because of large scale post-earthquake re-building work. Imports of sections, bars and mesh rod are expected to rise, but possibly to head some of these imports off, China Steel Corporation (CSC) has cut bar and rod prices by NT