Domestic steel prices continued to rise over the weekend, with major producers hiking prices amid an expected fall in supply, as the government stepped up a crackdown on steel production.
Steel mills in East China's Jiangsu Province increased prices for some products by 150 yuan ($21.73) to 250 yuan per ton over the weekend, while companies in East China's Shandong Province and North China's Hebei Province raised prices by 50 yuan to 80 yuan per ton, said media reports.
Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center, said the increases were due to the closure of steel mills in four provinces amid a recent government crackdown.
The closure would result in a drop of 86.1 million tons of steel supply, enforcing market expectations that there will be temporary shortfalls of steel.
Steel prices have been on the rise in the past two months, according to the China Iron and Steel Association. The association's China Steel Price Index stood at 90.38 at the end of November, up 12.48 percent from the previous month.
