Price shocks in the offing

Domestic steel prices rose sharply last week as trading volumes slowed, triggering expectations of more price shocks soon.

Mysteel's composite steel price index, a major gauge of domestic steel prices, shows that domestic long steel products have soared.

But the price hikes may not be in the immediate future as most of the steel traders have already stocked up on the raw material front.

"It is a thorny issue as most of the mills may be inclined to opt for that kind of approach, considering the surging demand from sectors like automobiles and construction," said Xu Xiangchun, an analyst with Mysteel.